To: Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, Ian Levy MP, Guy Opperman MP, Ian Lavery MP, Chi Onwurah MP, Nick Brown MP, Catherine McKinnell MP, Sir Alan Campbell MP, Mary Glindon MP, Ian Mearns MP, Liz Twist MP, Kate Osborne MP, Emma Lewell-Buck MP, Julie Elliott MP, Bridget Phillipson MP, Sharon Hodgson MP.
BY EMAIL 15 October 2020
Dear Members of Parliament
An open letter to North East MPs regarding maintaining the opening of gym facilities during Covid-19
I write to convey our support for the campaign being undertaken by UK Active to ensure that in areas that are classified as Tier 3 (Very High Local Covid Alert level), it is possible for indoor gyms and indoor leisure facilities to remain open.
Whilst I appreciate that currently, all of the LA7 are classified as Tier 2 (High Local Covid Alert level), we are conscious that at any time, changes to classifications could be made, and so this issue is pertinent for the whole of the region, not just for those areas of the country currently classified, or imminently to be classified, as Tier 3.
On 12th October, when the Prime Minister announced the new tiering system, he indicated that gyms and leisure centres would remain open under the baseline measures, but yet legal interpretation of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Local COVID-19 Alert Level) (Very High) England Regulations 2020/1105 (the Regulations) indicates that gyms and leisure centres must close in all Tier 3 areas as part of the baseline measures.
The role in maintaining and indeed improving the health of residents in our region that gyms and leisure facilities play has never been more critical. The sector has worked extremely hard to ensure that access to facilities and activities can be managed safely and so can continue to provide communities with a physical and mental wellbeing option, particularly throughout the forthcoming winter period when outdoor exercise is understandably more challenging.
At Rise, as the active partnership for Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, we are dedicated to creating a world where more people can enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle, where everyone, from Berwick to Sunderland, has equal opportunity to be active in their own way – particularly those who need it most - boosting health and happiness. We therefore view it as imperative that every possible step is taken to ensure opportunities for residents to be physically active are maximised during this pandemic, which
includes ensuring that gyms and leisure centres are not included within the baseline measure for Tier 3, or indeed any other tier within the new system.
I therefore call on you, as the elected representatives for constituencies across Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, to lend your voice to UK Active’s campaign in order to guard against such closures should any of your constituencies be moved to Tier 3 at any point in the future. I would be extremely grateful if you could do the following things:
1. Please write today to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden MP, and ask him to urgently move to amend the Regulations or modify their effect when any new Tier 3 area is added to the list; and 2. If you are on Twitter, please tweet the hashtag #FitTogther to other colleagues and influential people in the media to show your support - you can tweet an image of your letter to the Secretary of State and other campaigning organisations will amplify your message.
Yours sincerely
Clare Morley, Chief Executive Officer M: 07535 291992 E: [email protected]