November Lockdown Newsletter
To all our followers and customers, we are happy to release our first newsletter of November. Please find below a range of news and updates for your Sport and Wellbeing team, #TeamSouthampton.
Second UK Lockdown
As of Thursday the 5th of November, the United Kingdom has entered a second lockdown in response to rising rates of COVID-19 transmission. In response, Sport and Wellbeing has regrettably closed its doors for the second time this year. Naturally, it is unfortunate that we are required to do so, but in the interest of Health and Safety we hope that we can all work together to keep each other safe and to come out the other side confident that we have all done our bit. We are happy to confirm that our Sport and Wellbeing staff are continuing to work throughout the lockdown in order to make sure the facilities are in the best condition possible for our eventual reopening.
Those with a rolling monthly membership will likely have noticed that payment has been taken as of the 1st of November, via an automatic process set up during the previous month. The current plan regarding these payments is to transfer the fees across to the December monthly instalment should we receive the go-ahead from the UK Government and the University of Southampton to reopen. For more information, please read our article shared on the 2nd of November.
Plans for Reopening
At present, our plans are to reopen at the end of the UK lockdown which is currently set for Thursday the 3rd of December, 2020. Please note that this is subject to change pending advice from the UK government and University of Southampton management. Our intention is to reopen the facilities as they were before, continuing with the implementation of the session booking system which has received significant praise from a visiting Health and Safety advisor.
Before lockdown, we announced that we would reintroduce joining fees as of the 16th of November. While we are not open at this time, please be aware that the joining fee will be reintroduced as of our intended reopening on the 3rd of December. All customers looking to sign up will now be asked to pay the additional £15.00 fee at the time of their application.
Personal Motivation Sessions
In order to keep our University of Southampton students active and feeling confident throughout this new lockdown period, we have set up a new program called Personal Motivation. These sessions have no strict agenda but are instead personalised around your own needs. You can apply for a session via the UoS Sport app and are asked to submit a pre-session form in which you lay out what you are interested in doing to our Sport and Wellbeing team. The instructor will then create a program that suits you personally. These sessions will be run either at Jubilee Sports Centre or virtually at your own home via Microsoft Teams.
Please note that these sessions are only available to University of Southampton students. Attendees must have either a Sports Pass or Student Membership with Sport and Wellbeing.
We have also been offering AU sessions, to which we have received this pleasant feedback:
I just wanted to say thank you for the fitness session yesterday afternoon. I had lots of good feedback from the session and thought I would pass on the message, a lot of members were impressed at how you tailored the session for the different swimming aspects.
Refunds For Fixed-Term Membership Purchased Before the 22nd of March
As of the time of writing, we are happy to confirm that approximately 90% of all our customers will have received their refunds for any fixed-term membership interrupted by the first UK lockdown. Of course, this does mean that there remains a significant number of customers who are yet to receive their refund, and so our customer service staff will be working diligently throughout the second lockdown to contact anyone who may still be waiting.
If you are still waiting on your refund, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible. Refunds will be issued over the phone only. To call, phone us on 02380592119. Our phone lines are currently staffed Monday to Friday, from 9 until 5. If you would prefer us to contact you, please email us at sportandwellbeing@soton.ac.uk and we can arrange a time for us to call you back.
Xmas Opening Times
As the days become shorter and the festive season approaches, we understand that many customers may be wondering about the upcoming holiday period. Should all go as planned and the facilities reopen as standard from Thursday the 3rd of December, we have created a prospective holiday opening timetable. Full details can be found below but we will be shut on Christmas Day and Boxing day across all sites. Our facilities will operate under normal opening hours up until the 22nd whereupon shortened hours will be introduced. Normal opening hours will resume then from the 2nd January.
You can find our Christmas Opening Hours timetable in the Useful Downloads section below.
UPDATE: All of our facilities, except the Jubilee Sports Centre, will be closed over the Christmas period. The JSC will be operating on reduced hours and will be closed on Christmas day and Boxing day.
Strava
Calling all runners, cyclists, and swimmers; welcome to the future of cardio. Sport and Wellbeing are now on Strava. Strava is the next-generation app for all athletes. Whether you are a beginner runner still getting into the habit, or training for the Olympics, Strava has you covered. With Strava you can track your routes, create challenges, and interact with other like-minded individuals.
But there’s more! Team Southampton have created a club on Strava. This will enable the wider UoS community to connect with one another and support each other’s wellbeing. As the winter months progress, Sport and Wellbeing will be posting different routes and challenges; updates to keep you in the loop and competitions/leaderboards to give you that extra bit of motivation! Here at Sport and Wellbeing we believe TEAM is the best motto and together everyone achieves more.
We will also be open to suggestions if anyone has any challenges or routes they recommend. Let’s make the most of these Winter months and improve our physical and mental wellbeing together.
Strava can be downloaded for Android and iPhone on the links below
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/strava-run-ride-swim/id426826309
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.strava&hl=en
We have also created a how to guide to get you set up so you know exactly how you can get started!
#VirtuallyTogether
As many individuals across the University may be left feeling isolated by the UK lockdown measures, the University of Southampton has endeavoured to support students as much as possible over the next few weeks. To this end, they have introduced a program called #VirtuallyTogether which seeks to offer a wide range of online activities which can keep participants feeling involved and connected. Examples include Games Nights, a Bake Off, a regular book club, and many more!
Sport and Wellbeing have offered their own contributions as part of the #DoesYouGood campaign. Follow the link provided here in order to find out more about #VirtuallyTogether.
RYA and TASS Partnership
Over many years the University has hosted and supported many world class sailors including Olympian and World Champion Ben Saxton and the Olympic gold medal winner and World Sailor of the year Lijia Xu (Golden Lilly). We have previously worked with the Artemis Offshore Academy, providing their Strength and Conditioning and performance testing. The relationship we have with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has been consistently strong and many of their student sailors have Southampton as their University of choice is because of this link and our reputation for supporting sailors.
The RYA and TASS have always worked closely with each other and are combining to provide a package of support for their sailors on the RYA performance pathway to be delivered in 2 centres of excellence. The University of Southampton and Exeter University. This means we will be given 25 of the best youth sailors to support. The provision of this support is similar to the TASS model but focusses much more on group Strength and Conditioning sessions, which means resources will be easier to arrange. (25 Individual packages of support would be resource intensive).
Be Active 2021
For all students within the University of Southampton, we are excited to tease that we have an exciting new development coming very soon. A new programme called Be Active is on the horizon, a weekly scheme to offer all students the opportunity to Be Active through organised sporting activities, completely free of charge. This programme is available without the need for a Sport and Wellbeing membership, nor do we ask for attendees to have previous experience in sporting events.
While we cannot release specific details at this time, we are able to share one thing: Our aim is to give every member of the University of Southampton community the opportunity to BE ACTIVE, to try new things, and to develop.
Details will be released in due course and can be found here. We can assure you that this will not be something you want to miss.