Glasgow Club scraps annual membership
NEW Glasgow gym-goers will no longer be able to sign up for year-long memberships. Glasgow Life, which runs the city’s Glasgow Club facilities, will no longer be offering the annual membership option to new customers or those already using the rolling monthly plan.
Instead, those looking to sign up will be offered a rolling contract, which will allow users the option to cancel at any time.
However, gym users who had yearly memberships prior to the gyms closing in light of the coronavirus pandemic will still be able to use the option.
It’s understood the annual passes traditionally offered a small discount bringing prices down to around £23 per month instead of the current £27.
Young people under the age of 16 can purchase rolling monthly contracts which begin at £15.
The pay-as-you-go membership, which allows customers to sign up for free and only pay for the facilities used as and when they are booked, also remains in place.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said the change had been made to bring the health centres in line with private firms who tend to offer a more flexible plan.
They said: “Glasgow Club customers who had yearly memberships can still renew them on that basis.
“Rolling monthly contracts for gym memberships is what customers overwhelmingly choose because they offer greater flexibility and is standard industry practice.”
It’s also expected to save the charity, which runs the clubs on behalf of Glasgow City Council, cash by eliminating the need for reinstating or cancelling memberships, as well as freezing and unfreezing.
A statement on the group’s website said: “We removed the 12-month minimum-term FitClub membership at just £27 per month, making it our best value membership, with no-long term commitment ... annual payers always represented a small, and ever reducing proportion of our members.
“Payment up-front for a whole year was based on activities and services available at the time, and just like our personal circumstances, we all know these things have been – and remain – subject to considerable change.”
It comes as several Glasgow Life leisure facilities are closed yet again to make way for the international COP26 summit which kicks off in the city later this week.
As previously reported, Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls and Tennis Centre and Kelvin Hall will all shut their doors this week.
Meanwhile, the Riverside Museum closed to visitors on Saturday, with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum; the Gallery of Modern Art and the People’s Palace set to follow suit in the coming days.
The popular Emirates Arena will remain open but gym-goers have been warned it will be busier than usual with certain areas supporting the UN conference, which runs from October 31 to November 21.
The venues are expected to reopen as normal next month.