Sport and leisure
Latest COVID-19 service arrangements affecting sport and leisure in South Ayrshire.
Latest Updates
30th March 2022
We are pleased to confirm some further changes to operations, which we hope will make it easier to access your activities at the Citadel. From Monday 18th April the following changes will come into effect;
- You will no longer have to book in to access General Swimming or the gym, at the Citadel
- Citadel reception turnstiles back in operation
From 18th April, instead of pre-booking and checking in with reception, you will now be permitted to bypass reception and use your new membership card, or the functionality in the App to scan through the turnstiles and access your activity. The option to pre-book will still be available if you are used to doing this and find it useful, however will no longer be a requirement. Those attending fitness classes and any other pre-booked activity will also be able to bypass reception, scanning their membership card or App. We still strongly recommend pre-booking Lane Swimming and Fitness Classes.
To support our continued compliance with Test & Protect and being able to maintain accurate attendance records we would ask that all customers bypassing reception use the 'Check-In Scotland' posters around the centre on arrival and leaving to register their visit, after 18th April.
- Our new 'booking strikes' policy starts
As we have recovered from COVID-19 and started to reopen more and more services, Fitness Classes have been hugely popular. Whilst this is fantastic, we are finding that many classes are showing as full but not running with a full class. In order to help us manage this effectively, from Monday 18th April, the following conditions will be placed on advance booking;
- Where a member fails to cancel, or cancels within 60 minutes of the class start time, a 'strike' will be generated
- Where a member fails to attend a pre-booked class, a 'strike' will be generated
If a member generates 3 strikes over the course of a rolling 14 day period, they will then have the ability to book classes in advance removed, for a period of 7 days. During this time, they will still be permitted to turn up for classes and gain access if space, however they will not be able to book in advance. We hope that this new process will support us in ensuring that as many spaces are available for our classes as possible whilst offering us accurate figures which will in turn advise future programming changes.
11th February 2022
We are delighted to be able to announce the return, to the Citadel, of several sports activities. From Monday 14th February 2022, bookings will be permitted for 5-a-side football, basketball, squash and we will also be relaxing our restrictions currently in place for badminton. A summary of our changes and requirements for all users are below;
- Lead booker to retain details of all attendees, for purposes of Test & Protect compliance
- Face coverings to be worn in all non playing areas of the facility
- Whilst not engaged in activity, wear a face covering and please ensure to give each other space
- Dry changing facilities on first floor available for use
- Showers available for use
- Users should limit their stay in changing to mitigate risk of groups gathering for extended periods of time in these areas
- Unregulated singles (badminton and squash) and doubles (badminton) permitted
- Equipment must not be shared (footballs and basketballs should be sanitised before/during/after/sessions)
- Users should sanitise their hands on arrival and departure from facility and during booking, using sanitiser provided
- All bookings should be made in advance by registering and logging in here
10th November 2021
Further to the previous update, we can confirm that the Citadel Sauna Suite will reopen on Monday 22nd November. As with our previous phases of reopening, there will be safety measures and operational changes in place. These are in place to support the return of this area of the service whilst keeping our users and staff teams safe and following necessary industry guidance. We have summarised how this space will operate below;
- Sauna Suite will be available in 60 minute sessions, which will require to be booked, in advance
- Reduced capacity for each session
- Session breaks for cleaning
- Capacity and/or time restrictions in place for each space as follows;
- Each sauna - 2
- Steam Room - 2
- Jacuzzi - 1
- Plunge Pool - 1
- Rest Area - 4
- Each changing room - 2
- Touchpoint cleaning carried out during session breaks
- Enhanced cleaning throughout day and at end of day
- Hand sanitiser available throughout
- Sanitising station in rest area
- Co2 levels monitored throughout day
To support the reopening of the Sauna Suite, we have completed some works which we hope will add to your experience. As well as necessary repairs to jacuzzi and plunge pool plant equipment we have renewed the flooring from the main entrance through the rest area and changing. In addition we have done the same in the toilet area along with replacing the doors, frames and wall coverings there and painted some areas.
As above, we do have reduced capacities for the session. As part of our phased approach, these may be amended through analysis as we progress. However, the capacity restrictions are in place for each area within the Sauna Suite for your safety and we ask that you follow these. In addition, as with other areas in the facility please give people space and keep a safe distance. Hands should be sanitised on entry and exit to the Sauna Suite and throughout your session. Face coverings must be worn as you enter and move through the facility, enter the Sauna Suite and use changing/rest areas. They can be removed whilst using the jacuzzi, plunge pool, saunas, steam room.
All sessions can be booked from Monday 15th November by registering and logging in, here
1st November 2021
We are pleased to announce that the Citadel Sauna Suite will be reopening on Monday 22nd November. Full details on safety measures and how this area will operate will be released in the coming days.
24th August 2021
We have made changes to our swimming pool timetables - these changes will be implemented from Wednesday 1st September and become bookable on Wednesday 25th August.
We have made changes to session length and amount, which will increase availability and access throughout our facilities.
The new timetables can be found on our swimming pool timetables pages, here -
We are also working behind the scenes on being able to reintroduce access to the Citadel sauna suite, plus basketball, football and squash - keep looking for updates on our website and social media channels.
13th August 2021
COVID-19 Protection Level Changes
We welcome the Scottish Government's move 'beyond level 0' following the First Minister announcement on August 3rd. We are reviewing all available industry guidance and will be making changes to how our services operate as quickly as we can, safely. With this in mind we are delighted to announce the following changes;
Citadel & Swimming Pools
**Starting Monday 16th August 2021**
Prestwick, Troon and Maybole Pools
Capacities increased for swimming sessions
Lane swims return to single lanes
Capacities increased for gym sessions and Aqua Fit classes (Troon/Prestwick)
Changing rooms to return to Male/Female as pre-COVID
Increased shower availability
Online booking still recommended, but no longer mandatory
Card/contactless payment preferred, but cash accepted
Citadel Leisure Centre
Capacities increased for swimming sessions
Lane swims return to single lanes
Increased shower availability
Dry changing facilities reopened for gym members
Online booking still recommended, but not mandatory
Card/contactless payment preferred, but cash accepted
At the above facilities, we are also currently reviewing our existing timetables for swimming, gym and fitness so that changes can be made to increase availability/access over the coming weeks and months, as we continue to recover from COVID-19. In addition, we are also completing some small works in our Citadel Sauna Suite and hope to be able to update on that soon, as well as confirm a date as to when this area may be able to reopen. Alongside this we'll be considering the reintroduction of football, basketball and squash. As and when these changes are available, we will contact all of our customers through email and social media, as well as on our website.
Throughout all facilities, it is still mandatory to wear a face covering in all non activity areas of the building - unless you are medically exempt from doing so. We also ask that you Give People Space, throughout our facilities and try to maintain a safe distance where possible. Please continue to play your part in supressing the virus and keeping yourselves and our teams safe.
We thank all of our customers for their continued patience and support during this ever changing time.
Learn 2 Swim and Dive Update August 13th 2021
We are excited to inform all Learn 2 customers that our changing facilities will open on Monday 16th August. This will mean that all members will have use of the changing facilities and showers after your lesson. With the changes in mind, we have given further information below:
All participants should still arrive 'beach ready' to swim. This will allow our staffing teams to maintain enhanced cleaning.
Spectating will not currently be available, this will be reviewed and updated.
Increased changing room supervision by facility staff and teaching staff will be implemented during this time.
Parent/Guardians should wait outside where possible during lessons. This will allow staff to do necessary cleaning between sessions.
All participants who currently attend Citadel will now use the changing village.
Classes re-located from Citadel - Prestwick will remain at Prestwick at present. Updates will be released on a phased return in due course.
We welcome anyone who were unable to return on previous guidance to get in touch with us:- sportsdevelopment@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Updates June 2021
Phase 2 pre-school gymnastics
Due to the recent announcement that South Ayrshire will stay at level 2 the re-start of our pre-school gymnastics classes for 18 months - 3years has been delayed until further notice.
Pre-school gymnastics classes for 3 and 4 year olds will run as normal.
Citadel dry changing facilities
Due to the continued easing of the COVID-19 protection levels, we are pleased to announce that the Citadel dry changing rooms (first floor) will again be made available for use. Initially, this will be on a limited basis and will be closely monitored during a trial period to ensure all safety measures are being followed. It is anticipated that access will increase as restrictions ease.
Until further notice, access to these changing facilities will only be available during the following times commencing from Monday 7th June;
Monday-Friday - 06:00-08:30
Saturday - 12:00-17:00
A maximum of 5 people will be allowed in each of the male or female changing areas at any one time. We ask that users continue to maintain 2m physical distancing at all times and wait until a space is available if there are already 5 people in the changing room when you enter. Cleaning materials will be made available for customers to use and we would ask that lockers/benches/equipment are wiped down after use. This will act as a supplement to our regular touchpoint cleaning performed by staff throughout the day and will support us all staying safe.
Badminton
We are pleased to announce that we will be reintroducing badminton court bookings within the Citadel. Courts will be able to be booked online in 60 minute sessions. These will initially be available on a limited basis as follows from Monday 7th June;
Tuesday-Wednesday - 20:00 and 20:30
Saturday - 10:30, 12:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 15:00
Sunday - 12:30, 13:00, 14:30 and 15:00
As we start to reintroduce availability, there will be one single court available at each of the times outlined above. We ask that these courts are pre-booked and paid for online.
Following current guidance, there will be a maximum of six players per court, from a maximum of 3 households. If you are playing doubles then you will not be permitted to switch partners and should therefore retain the same partner for the entire session (this will remain the case until South Ayrshire enters COVID Level 0 at which point unregulated singles and doubles will be permitted). The person responsible for making the booking for the session must also ensure that they retain details of everyone attending, in the event anyone in the group is contacted by Test and Protect. We would ask that all users bring their own equipment, do not swap racquets, wear a face covering entering/leaving the facility and ensure that good hand hygiene is maintained, using the hand sanitiser provided before, during and after your visit.
Casual bookings/payment
From Friday 4th June, we will be reintroducing the ability for users to book and pay for a single session. Customers will be able to book gym, swimming sessions as well as fitness classes and badminton courts. All sessions will be required to be booked online, in advance.
Aqua Fit
As we move through the COVID protection levels and restrictions ease, we are keen to ensure we resume activities as quickly as possible, as it's safe to do so. We're delighted to announce the return of Aqua Fit, on a phased basis.
Classes will start w/c 7th June, as follows:
Prestwick Pool
Wednesday 10:30-11:15
Wednesday 11:15-12:00
Troon Pool
Thursday 18:00-18:45
Thursday 19:15-20:00
All classes are required to be booked and paid for online, up to seven days in advance. We anticipate being able to release more classes in the coming weeks and months at Citadel and more at Prestwick/Troon.
Share this page
