Clissold Leisure Centre - London

Sarah P.

Gym ist echt schlecht ausgestattet viele gewichte fehlen und die Preise sind sehr hoch

samantha H.

I went swimming here first of all with my key worker just so I know what it was like so I could take my kids and it was brilliant the main pool was like ice water but I got in and it took me breath away but after a while it made my body feel great and stress free so a few days ago I took my kids here and took them to the training pool and it's great the kids loved it and there all different kinds of people there and guards are always on watch which is really good and there also a baby pool with a slash pad and a sauna and a steam room and Al sorts of training and gyms there it's brill and I would recommend it to everyone who can go and get a chance to get in there oh and I can't forget the big kids play area omg it great even I went down the slides with the kids we love it and would we go back ye of course we are maybe in a couple of days

Alexander G. J.

Unfriendly greeting at the front desk then dirty, run down changing room area, tiny cubicles. The pool, also needing a lot of upkeep was on the cool side and the showers even more so.

Interesting architecture but the building has been let down over the years.

Magda B.

I have been going to swimming pools in London for 15 Years. As I recently moved to stoke Newington, I started visiting CLC more often.
In the span of 5 months I had my paddles and goggles stolen. The paddles were taken while I was swimming!
On the weekend it's impossible to swim properly as it's always packed with kids courses. The fast lanes are always occupied by slow swimmers meaning that you can't have a proper swim and none of the lifeguards does anything about it.
The amount of kids in that place is insane and if you want to chill clearly that's not the place to be. I had to stop going there as never once has been a pleasant experience. if you want to swim During the weekend it's better that you go there in person and check yourself that the pool has effectively some lanes left other than for courses as nowhere in their website or socials that is specified. Such a pity

Phae

POOR BEYOND WORDS AS A FITNESS CENTRE. THE PLACE SPREADS DISEASE & IS UNSAFE MOST DAYS.

I feel sorry for staff and management, taking on such a joke of a centre. Memberships keep increasing, whilst quality keeps going downhill.Members express sadness at getting sick all the time, whenever they come into the centre.

People are lifting weights by glass lift and staircase as kids run past as there is no space for them to do any training in the gym. The swimming pool viewing deck is being used as a gym/mat area by desperate members are trying to find space to work out.

There are builders permanently on site (years now due to structural problems) with large wheelbarrows, moving huge poles and I very nearly ended up injured in a wheel barrow yesterday (NO JOKE). This isn’t an occasional situation. This is going on for years. Even prior to the pandemic. In fact, the significant improvement since the pandemic has been the presence of sanitising spray to clean down equipment. What a revelation! 35 cases of ringworm were contacted in spin class according to an instructor.

It’s a constant chase for classes. Often you can’t even add to a waiting list because they’re oversubscribed. Most practitioners and instructors are of excellent calibre, but the environment does not support them and accessibility to classes is near impossible. Members joke about setting the alarm for 3 am in order to try to get onto a class.

The instructors are not supported enough and when classes are cancelled, they don’t have a BETTER system to send a text message in time, they tell you 20min in when no instructor shows up. So, if you’ve taken 3 hours out of your life to do two classes and get there, you’ve wasted the day. Trying to use the Gym as a back up is often a lost cause. There are too many people as another reviewer mentioned. NOW there are KIDS in the gym messing about occupying equipment on a regular basis.

Hundreds, possibly thousands of people pass through here daily, mostly kids with/without parents. Hence a lot of germs. This doesn’t seem to be geared towards adult health and fitness at all. It’s grimy - essentially a big swimming pool and the non-existent health suite (refurbished for the umpteenth time) is laughable. There’s nothing healthy about a fungal Petri dish smelling of urine. Besides, it’s shut half the time. Often there are signs saying NO WATER in the showers / most showers are shut off for months. As you can see from the photo I have posted, there’s only been one functioning toilet on 2nd flood for at least four months now. I foolishly deleted a whole bunch of photos, months ago, expecting improvements and I’m not somebody who likes to complain. However, the current ongoing situation really takes the biscuit and your money.

The lift does not work, so if you’re disabled/ injured forget it.

If you’re looking for a so-called leisure centre, primarily focused on hordes of screaming children on bouncy castles, Scootering into your dance class, held in a gigantic sports hall, with a cacophony of music and screaming, fair enough. If you are Neurodivergent in anyway, it’s probably not a good idea to enter that space.

The spin room has been refurbished so many times, yet is still shut, so the bikes are squashed at the back of the basketball court. You might start a class where people are playing badminton, and have to move the badminton equipment as no staff are around to do this. People pay to be a member, but clean up and move equipment.

I’ve tried with this place since it opened, but nothing changes. The level of incompetence is beyond comprehension. No matter how many staff shuffled, the centre is held over barrel with bureaucratic BETTER social enterprise system, whereby the centre is partly council funded, partly private, and partly charitably funded. Who knows where the money is going? THEY NEED HEAD OFFICE support. It’s not staff fault. IT IS NOT right to take money and not STATE on a website that THE CENTRE IS A BUILDING SITE.It’s very much a case of how many people does it take to change a lightbulb at BETTER.

Z F.

I’ve been coming here for a couple of years, and lately the centre has become increasingly unpleasant as a place to exercise. Money has been spent in mind boggling ways, with endless disruption (fair enough during renovation), but equipment still moves week to week.

The latest addition of a 3-storey play den in the foyer is unreal. It’s loud, unsupervised kids running around, and entirely unavoidable. I really hope they reconsider this.

Meanwhile the fitness areas are constantly packed, the water fountains have a mind of their own and often don’t work, and the swimming pool changing room is pretty grim. And the membership fee has increased.

I will say it’s a fairly welcoming, community crowd, with less of the bravado/testosterone vibes you get in other gyms. The staff are usually friendly too.

I realise they inherited an architectural calamity, but after hearing about the renovations and hoping it might make some of the issues the place faces better, things seems to be getting worse.

Last note - You guys have men in their underwear in the spa instead of bathing wear. It’s pretty gross and somebody needs to enforce the dress code!

Sheila

I had been a member of Clissold Leisure Centre for nearly two years. During this period I cancelled my membership a few times (when I knew I wouldn't be able to use the gym for a full month). More than once, when I rejoined the gym, the affordable membership I had was no longer offered. In 2023 their "55+ off-peak" membership was discontinued. Last year they got rid of the regular off-peak membership and in the last few months the "Better Health Centre" (which was about £45) was also discontinued. Unless you fit the criteria to join one of their specific types of membership, the most affordable option to use the gym/classes on a regular basis is now a membership that includes "all facilities in borough" at £61.85. This (discontinuing the most affordable memberships) seems to be a trend...

Cian E.

Been converted to a child's play centre over the past 6-8 months. Every time I go, the non-playground space has gotten smaller. I'll unfortunately have to cancel my membership -- they used to have something great here for the area, but have chosen to only serve children/parents. What a pity!