GLL operates Belfast City Council owned leisure centres under the Better Brand.

LEISURE IN BELFAST

CONTENTSWe are a Social Enterprise 1

Introduction 2

Did You Know We Have… 5

Better Service 6

Better People 8

Better Communities 9

Better Business 11

Leisure Transformation Programme 13

Staff Success 15

Looking Forward In 2018 18

1

WE ARE A SOCIAL ENTERPRISEGLL is a charitable social enterprise operating under the Better brand. We work to provide the best leisure services available. Our mission is to get more people, more active, more often, in our fourteen leisure centres and gyms across Belfast.

So how are we different?

We offer a varied programme of activities which are open to all regardless of social or financial mobility. We pride ourselves on offering reduced rate memberships and activities to ensure price doesn’t affect participation.

As a Not for Profit organisation, we reinvest all our surplus back into the community by developing staff, investing in our centres, supporting young athletes and increasing junior and senior participation.

We deliver health referral programmes for those living with acute medical conditions to help them improve their quality of life by keeping active. We are a proud member of Social Enterprise Northern Ireland (SENI) who helps organisations like ours run their business and promote the work they do, while partnering with other like minded social entrepreneurs.

Our Social Return on Investment figure helps us to measure the impact of what we do in our communities beyond standard financial reporting. It helps us understand the outcomes of what we do and what impact it has on the communities we serve.

The Belfast Partnership generated £14,309,486 in social value in 2017.

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INTRODUCTIONGLL is proud to continue its work with Belfast City Council, helping transform leisure facilities across the city. To ensure our growth, we deliver a successful social business focusing on our customers’ needs, as well as reinvesting in our facilities, local communities and our staff.

GLL manage 14 leisure facilities across the Belfast area.

This document highlights our key successes and challenges in 2017 focusing on the four guiding principles that sit at the heart of our business.

BETTER PEOPLE

BETTER SERVICE

BETTER COMMUNITIES

BETTER BUSINESS

Avoniel

Ballysillan

Belvoir

Better Gym Belfast

Better Gym Connswater

Brook Activity Centre

Falls

Girdwood Community Hub

Grove Wellbeing Centre

Ozone

Loughside Recreation Centre

Olympia

Shankill

Whiterock

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SPORTS

617,235USERS TOOK PART IN

SPORTING ACTIVITIES IN OUR CENTRES

212SPORTS CLUBS USE OUR CENTRES

EVERY WEEK

93LOCAL ATHLETES WERE SUPPORTED BY OUR SPORT FOUNDATION WITH A PROGRAMME OF INVESTMENT

WORTH £50K

2,417CHILDREN HAD FUN IN OUR

SUMMER SCHEMES

SWIM

3,239 CHILDREN ARE LEARNING TO SWIM IN OUR SWIM SCHOOL EVERY WEEK

GYM

3,427ONLINE MEMBERSHIP SALES

49.5% OF PEOPLE BOOKED ACTIVITIES

ONLINE

1,056 PEOPLE WENT THROUGH OUR

HEALTH REFERRAL PROGRAMMES WITH OUR QUALIFIED HEALTH TEAM.

466,767 VISITS TO OUR GYMS

773,772 VISITS TO OUR POOLS

59,527 SCHOOL PUPIL VISITS TO

OUR POOLS

174 qualified lifeguards ensure our pools are safe.

174QUALIFIED LIFEGUARDS ENSURE OUR

POOLS ARE SAFE

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SOME OF THE MANY ACTIVITIES WE OFFER IN OUR 14 CENTRES ACROSS BELFAST

BOULDERING

KAYAKING

GAELIC

SWIMMINGSWIM SCHOOL

SQUASH

FITNESS CLASSESBADMINTON

BASKETBALLSOCCER

PRAMASUFFERFEST GROUP CYCLE

PERSONAL TRAINING

TRAMPOLININGBIRTHDAY PARTIES KIDS ACTIVITIES

CLIMBING WALL

WRESTLING

LAZER QUEST

WEIGHT LIFTING

HEALTHWISE

SPA EXPERIENCE

HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

BOCCIA

TENNIS

CANOEING

YOGA

JIU JITSU

WATER WORKOUT

FUTSAL PILATES ABS BLAST

JUNIOR GYM

CARDIAC REHABILITATION

CIRCUITS

SOFT PLAY WATER POLO TAI CHI

RUGBY

KARATE

VOLLEYBALL

BOXING

TABLE TENNIS

SNOOKER

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

DANDER BALL

TAI KWON DO

BOXFIT

TOTAL BODY CONDITIONING

DANCE AEROBICS

FAMILY SWIM SESSION

GYMNASTICS

LES MILLS VIRTUAL

4

5

DID YOU KNOW WE HAVE...

Coffee Corner 9- Functional areasLaser QuestClimbing WallSoft Play AreaWave Machineconference facilities

9 SWIMMING POOLS

63G PITCHES

36BADMINTON COURTS

2,596LOCKERS

9SAUNAS

5STEAM ROOMS

850GYM STATIONS

115-A-SIDE COURTS

5GROUP CYCLE

STUDIOS

14FITNESS STUDIOS

COFFEE CORNER

9FUNCTIONAL FITNESS AREAS

LASERQUEST

CLIMBINGWALL

SOFT PLAYAREA

WAVEMACHINE

CONFERENCEFACILITIES

6

BETTER SERVICE• Putting the customer at the heart of our business helped us increase our membership to 20,474.

• The £21.75 million Olympia Leisure Centre opened offering state of the art facilities and introducing two new products – Coffee Corner and Spa Experience.

• Better Gym Belfast became our first city centre location offering digitally advanced technology, exclusive interactive workout system, PRAMA, and a forty station secure cycle store.

• Concessionary membership options across all centres offered more affordable access to leisure for all sectors of community.

• Coffee Corner, our fair trade café, donated 2p from every cup sold to help support local athletes. • Spa Experience, our award winning day spa, is accessible and affordable for the whole community.

• 1,679 customers participated in our annual user survey giving us an 88% satisfaction rate, which we will work to increase.

• 8 centres achieved Quest – the UK Quality Accreditation for Sport and Leisure and is a tool to help us offer 5 star service every time.

• Girdwood Community Hub hosted a diverse range of conferences, theatrical and sporting events. It now competes with much more established and versatile venues across the region.

• The first Northern Ireland Top Team Life Guard competition hosted at Olympia Leisure Centre included participants from four other local government authorities.

• 3,239 children take part in swimming lessons every week learning a key life skill.

• Swim Doctor Masterclass launched with the exclusive cooperation of ex Olympic and World Champion swimmer, Keri-Ann Payne.

• Facial recognition entry access technology was introduced at the two Better Gyms in Connswater and Church Lane to streamline access and improve customer experience.

50%INCREASE IN BETTER DISABILITY MEMBERS

93%INCREASE IN BETTER

SWIM MEMBERS

92%INCREASE IN GLL SPORTS FOUNDATION MEMBERS

88%SATISFACTION RATE

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The 120 station gym at Olympia Leisure Centre. The exclusive new workout programme, PRAMA, at Better Gym Belfast.

Exclusive Swim Doctor Masterclass with former Olympic and World Champion Keri-Anne Payne.

Girdwood Community Hub hosted Irish Dancing, Mix Martial Arts and weddings this year.

Spa Experience and Coffee Corner at Olympia Leisure Centre.

8

BETTER PEOPLE• We employ 545 staff with over 70% living in the Belfast area.

• We have worked to create an environment where our staff understand the importance of our social enterprise message.

• We continued to invest in our staff with a comprehensive internal and external training and development programme delivering 95 courses.

• A Coaching and Mentoring programme was created to support team work and motivation among staff in the newly opened Olympia Leisure Centre.

• Staff affected by Andersonstown Leisure Centre closing were given opportunities to work in new roles in our other centres or access a voluntary redundancy scheme.

• We recruited 61 Children’s Activity staff to deliver Holiday Schemes for 2,417 children at 10 centres.

• Our 2 year Trainee Manager Development Programme ran for its second year with 5 new recruits joining us to gain experience across all areas of the business.

• Absentee rates remained a focal point but continued to fall from a peak of 10.24% to 5.84% monthly.

• We introduced a new self service Human Resources management and payroll system, giving staff more control and access to their personal information. • Staff to income ratio continued to reduce from 193% in 2016 to 142%, with an ongoing focus on the management of overtime costs.

• The importance of providing fully qualified staff was championed at the inaugural Northern Ireland Top Team Lifeguard event with participation from 35 staff from across Northern Ireland.

• We recognised the contribution of our teams at the GLL Communications Day with 66 nominations for local staff awards.

The team from Grove competing at the NI Top Team Lifeguard event. Colm Curran from Whiterock Leisure Centre - Winner of the Overall Better People Award.

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BETTER COMMUNITIES• We continued to offer our services to all user groups and actively promoted people getting involved in physical activity.

• Our GLL Sport Foundation supported 93 local athletes with £50,000 of bursaries, injury rehabilitation, educational assistance and free memberships to all 14 centres.

• 2,417 children from across the city enjoyed our Summer Schemes, taking part in football, swimming, table tennis, dodge ball and arts and crafts.

• Our 12 week “Healthwise” exercise programme helped 1,056 people referred through their GP to increase physical activity and rehabilitate from cardiac, coronary, obesity and other health related issues.

• The second Annual Club Games saw 100% increase in participation with 8 teams of over 55s competing in a range of sports including table tennis, dander ball, badminton, boccia and darts. This event was supported by the Mary Peters Trust.

• Girdwood Community Hub was established as a disability sports hub in partnership with Belfast City Council and Disability Sports NI.

• We launched the “Move More” programme with Macmillan Cancer Support. Our dedicated staff worked with 100 people who survived or are living with cancer who may find that physical activity helps them to manage their condition.

• Developed a partnership with Sport Changes Lives, a charity giving children and teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to succeed through mentoring and increased physical activity.

• Delivered 180 hours of “Active Women” programmes in which 420 women took part in sport or physical activity in our centres.

• The Belfast Aquatic Strategy was developed in partnership with Active Belfast Board and Belfast City Council.

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The launch of the Disability Sport Hub at Girdwood. General Manager Deaglan O’Hagan begins work with Sport Changes Lives helping disadvantaged young

people get involved in sport.

2,417 children took part in our summer schemes from all parts of the city.

GSF sponsored athlete James McGivern prior to leaving for the Commonwealth Games 2018

The second Annual Club Games event at Girdwood Community Hub saw

team numbers rise by 100%.

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BETTER BUSINESS• Our continued social impact is only possible through sound business practice. We grew our memberships and usage while continuing to offer a variety of concessionary options for everyone.

• The £21.75 million Olympia Leisure Centre and Spa opened in January and has gained 2,000 members using its pools, state of the art gym, luxurious spa and multi purpose sports hall.

• Better Gym Belfast opened in December with an investment of £1.8 million and is Belfast’s first ever digital gym using cloud based technology, facial recognition entry access and offering an exclusive 40 space secure cycle store.

• Better Gym Connswater underwent a £75,000 refurbishment to improve facilities and install facial recognition entry system to improve customer experience and efficiency.

• Digital innovation helped attract new customers and compete with other operators in leisure with 49% of bookings being made online and 3,427 members signing up online.

• 8,940 people engaged with the Better brand across social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

• The successful closure of Andersonstown Leisure Centre made way for the next phase of the Leisure Transformation Programme – a £25million pound family fun water destination opening in 2019. Memberships were absorbed into other centres without a significant loss of revenue.

• Increased professional profile through membership of business networks including Social Enterprise NI (SENI), Women in Business (WIB) and Chief Executive Officers of the Third Sector (CO3).

Interactive Mywellness app available across our gyms.

Virtual group exercise classes use technology and the latest innovations in fitness.

Personal Training Sessions available across all our Leisure Centres.

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Better Gym Connswater following its £75,000 refurbishment.

Spa Experience is an award winning day spa accessible and affordable for the whole community.

13

LEISURE TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMMEBelfast City Council is investing £105million in seven new leisure centres and we are working closely with them to transform leisure provision and services throughout the city. Work is underway at three new centres at Andersonstown, Robinson and Brook.

At Andersonstown, £25 million is being invested on a new, fully equipped centre where the focus will be on family water fun with three fast-paced water slides, a surf simulator and children’s wet play adventure area.

The new centre at Robinson is a £20 million investment. With facilities including a fitness suite, exercise studios and integrated community facility, the centre will also focus on aquatic provision with a 25 metre, eight lane gala pool, diving provision and seating for 250 spectators.

At Brook, the £15 million investment will bring swimming to the Colin area for the first time with the inclusion of a 25 metre pool. The main focus here will be on outdoor provision with 3G pitches for Gaelic, Rugby and Soccer.

In 2018, we will be preparing for the opening of these centres by • Setting out how we programme the centres to ensure we are getting more people, more active, more often across all ages.

• Creating 50 new jobs for the city.

• Early engagement with local community groups will help us provide facilities which are open to all.

Andersonstown, Robinson and Brook are due to open in 2019.

Location of Andersontown, Robinson and Brook.

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ARTISTIC DESIGN

Andersontown, which will primarily be a family fun water park.

Robinson, which will be used as an aquatic centre.

Brook, will primarily focus on outdoor activities such as Gaelic games, Rugby and Soccer.

15

STAFF SUCCESSWe have continued to create a career development path for our staff and have supported many of our people through coaching and mentoring. Here are some of the success stories from our staff.

Michael Kearney

Michael entered the Trainee Manager scheme in 2015 taking the bold step from a centre attendant role he had held for 8 years.Michael began his first ever job in management in 2017 at Better Gym Connswater as Service Manager while continuing to study a Level 4 Diploma in Social Enterprise at University of Ulster Jordanstown and completing a Level 4 Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring.

Centre Attendant 2007-15

GLL partnership starts 2015

Began Trainee ManagerScheme 2015

TM Scheme 2015 - 17

First Management Roleas Service Manager

Kerrie O’Hanlon

Kerrie O’Hanlon transferred to GLL as a Membership Services Manager following the acquisition of Fitness First in 2015. She helped grow membership to 2200 at Better Gym Connswater before moving to launch Better Gym Belfast in 2017. Kerrie specialises in delivering the latest fitness classes. She continues to show passion for the industry and provides great customer service.

Membership ServiceManager 2015

GLL Purchase Fitness First 04/2015

Fitness Manager at GLL

Embraced change andhelped grow memberships

Became a valuedmember of Better Gym

Belfast

“Better Gym Belfast has helped develop me in so many different areas. As someone passionate about health and fitness and members goals, the high tech equipment and cloud based technology makes it easy to help members on their fitness journey”.

"I love that GLL place huge emphasis on the development of its workforce under our People Pillar. Since working for GLL I have developed in all areas of the organisation through extensive training and experience.”

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Ciaran Boyd

Ciaran began in 2005 as a part-time attendant and took up a variety of posts in centres across the city.

In 2015 Ciaran was promoted to a Leisure Centre Supervisor at Shankill.

A further development opportunity arose a year later in the form of a Service Manager role at the flagship Olympia Leisure Centre. Ciaran successfully applied for this promotion and has covered the role of Operations Service Manager. He has completed a range of courses and training and believes that he would never have gained the opportunity to develop and progress until the arrival of GLL.

“Its been a massive but enjoyable challenge. The team around me have made it a success”.

Part Time Attendant 2005GTI Scheme

Leisure Centre Attendant 2015

Participation in Regeneration of Girdwood Community Hub 2016

Promoted to OperationsService Manager of

Olympia Leisure Centre2017

Jane Murphy

Jane has gained over 30 years’ experience with Belfast City Council prior to the arrival of GLL. Jane is presently enrolled in the Supervisors Academy. Her quiet determination has greatly assisted Olympia in consistently exceeding sales targets and maintaining high standards of customer service, while embracing change and operating outside of her comfort zone.

30 years experiencewith BCC

GLL Partnership Begins

Full time receptionist

2015

On The Job TrainingLearnt New Products/Business AspectsCSA

Role 2016

CSA Role 2016Attended GTI SchemeEnrolled in Supervisor

Academy

"I love working at reception in Olympia because everyday brings new challenges".

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Colm Curran

Colm came to Whiterock after the closure of Andersonstown Leisure Centre in 2017.

Since joining the team, he has made significant improvements to the layout of the gym to accommodate the growing number of disabled and junior users. Colm has completed qualifications to deliver the junior and Healthwise programmes.

In conjunction with his work in the gym, Colm has greatly expanded the Fitness Class programme, adding classes from total body conditioning to meditation and yoga. He plans to develop a new walking group specialist training course.

“I like to help people both physically and mentally to feel better. Through my job it is a great opportunity to see people’s health and wellbeing improve through both physical activity and a positive attitude.”

Moved to Whiterock after

12 years at Andersontown

Received training to delivery Junior Gym Healthwise

Changed Whiterock gym to accomodate disabled users

Expanded fitness programme with additional classes

such as meditation

Continuing to develop

Healthwise and Macmillan Move

More

Victoria Irving

Victoria started working for GLL as a Healthwise facilitator in 2016. After 6 months, she was promoted to the role of Co-ordinator. She has worked with over 1,000 individuals supporting them to complete the 12 week Healthwise programme.

Victoria has completed Level IV Cardiac Rehab and Motivational Interviewing and has become a leader of the Belfast ‘Health Team’.

September 2016

Appointed Healthwise Facilitator

March 2017

Promoted to Healthwise Co-ordinator

Continual developmentthrough training

"I think my progression within GLL is evident in my promotion to Healthwise co-ordinator within 6 months. I'm proud of the Healthwise Programme’s growth and the increase in retaining members after the 12 week programme. The scheme is promoted well internally and externally and promotes what GLL want to achieve.

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LOOKING FORWARD IN 2018• Better People - One of our goals in Belfast is to make sure our staff are well trained and customer focused, while continuing to better themselves. We will continue to offer staff exciting pathways to develop within the company and build a career in preparation for the opening of the new leisure facilities in 2019.

• Better Communities - Our focus remains on encouraging those in our community who are less active to become involved in physical activity. These initiatives will target over 55 year olds, women, disabled members of the community and disadvantaged children. Our GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) goes from strength to strength. We will support over 100 local athletes, 12 of whom are competing at the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

• Better Service - We continue to offer clean, friendly and modern facilities, using technology and innovation to benefit our customers. We will increase the numbers of virtual classes and offer a fully integrated online booking system. More of our gym equipment will be programmed with Mywellness technology offering interactive and highly energising workouts.

• Better Business - During the next phase of the Leisure Transformation Programme, we will focus on operating high quality facilities that embrace technology and meet our customer’s needs. We will continue to offer a range of membership options suitable for all members of our community to help them become involved in physical activity.

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Annual Club Games at Girdwood. Commonwealth competitor and GSF athlete, Jack Agnew.

Canoeing Club at Shankill Leisure Centre. 2,417 children took part in our Summer Schemes.

Aqua Splash Family sessions in our pools.

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Pop into one of our Belfast leisure centres or visit to find our about our gyms, fitness classes, swimming programme, GSF programme and much, much more.

Join online today at better.org.uk/belfast