PARKWOOD LEISURE LAUNCHES NEW TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION TO ENABLE MORE CHILDREN TO LEARN HOW TO SWIM

Friday 23 June, 2023 – Parkwood Leisure, one of the UK’s leading leisure operators, has partnered with Fitronics, specialists in user-friendly software for the health and fitness industry, to introduce a  new waiting list function to improve accessibility to swimming courses at the 60+ facilities across England and Wales in partnership with Lex Leisure and Legacy Leisure.

The impetus for this innovation comes from research into the customer journey and recognising the importance of learning to swim as a life skill. 

The new solution, which is integrated with the swimming course management tool, Course Pro, permits parents/carers to now add children onto a specific waiting list for swimming lessons, at a time and location to suit them. Users are then notified when a space becomes available and the lesson can then be booked directly within Course Pro, reducing friction in the customer journey. 

The development is part of Parkwood Leisure’s shared commitment in improving access to essential water safety skills within its communities. It follows a recent recruitment and training initiative to upskill new and existing swimming teachers, following an over 50% increase in children enrolled onto its swim programme compared to pre-pandemic levels. 

The waiting list feature of Course Pro also gives the leisure operator and its partners further insight into the needs of the customers and communities they serve.

Alex Godfrey, Operations Director at Parkwood Leisure, said: “We’re incredibly excited to announce that the new swim waiting list feature of our Course Pro tool is now live. It’s groundbreaking within our sector and helps us and our partners to ensure we can provide our customers with access to a key life skill and one of our most in-demand offerings, our swim programme. 

This week is Drowning Prevention Week, and learning to swim gives everyone a vital life-saving skill. We believe improving access to our swimming courses will help to improve water safety, and encourage swimming as a safe activity that’s part of a healthy lifestyle.”

Daniel Haywood, Managing Director of Fitronics, commented on the development of the new features:

“Our key partner, Parkwood Leisure, approached us to develop a new waiting list functionality. This functionality had never been seen before and was forward thinking by the team. We worked together with the team on developing this key feature to help them to achieve better results and are really happy they are reaping the benefits.”

–ENDS–