Sports ‘privatisation’ fears

Published: 11 November, 2010

• THANK you for your recent articles (Is the game over for popular sports club? October 28 and Mystery over sports centre management, November 4) highlighting concerns over private contractors being brought in to run the respected and very successful Talacre Community Sports Centre.

This centre is a wonderful resource used by all ages and abilities; both the young and older members of my family regularly use the centre. 

My main concern is the effect that privatising the centre may have on the training and development of talented youngsters within the borough.

My youngest daughter Helena has ‘grown up’ using the centre, starting with the “treetops” toddler play area and has progressed from the once-a- week gymnastic classes to the Camden gymnastic squad, competing on behalf of the borough. 

The New Journal regularly features the highly successful gymnastic team (boys and girls squads).

In order for my 12-year-old daughter and other talented youngsters to compete successfully on a local and national level they need to have both the facilities and one-to-one training that is currently available at Talacre at a price that their families can afford. 

My daughter puts in 13 hours  training a week currently, seven at the weekend and the rest after school, along with the other members of her squad. This is a huge commitment on top of school work for her, and her experienced and excellent trainers but would, I suspect, just not be commercially viable for a privately-run sports centre to provide.

If privatised it seems inevitable that many local talented youngsters will just not get the opportunity to develop their gymnastics skills beyond the basic recreational level because the staff and facilities will just not exist for them in the ratio required and at the price their families can afford. Ultimately this would be a loss not only for the young people but also (given their impressive results) the borough

PENNY ROBERTS, Hillway, N6 

Concerns

• HAVING read the reports about GLL taking over the running of Talacre Community Sports Centre, I am concerned.

My children are members of the gymnastics club which is now one of the biggest and best in the country. The staff are wonderful and the kids all have a great time for which the parents are grateful to Camden Council.

The rumours about GLL have us all worried for the future of the club.

Some of the parents had used Hendon Gym Club before the centre it was based in was taken over by GLL and they say it was quickly run down, staff left and eventually the club disintegrated. We don’t want to see Camden Gym Club go the same way.

We know the council has to save money but surely not at the expense of one of the most successful sports centres in the country.

T GRAY
Address supplied