On Thursday the 21st of September 2023, we were told that access to the gymnasium at Oakwood Sports Centre in Horley has unfortunately been suspended with immediate effect while investigations are carried out for urgent repair works potentially needed.
We apologise for the disruption caused and thank you for your patience and understanding while we work with Oakwood School to manage the ongoing situation.
We will post updates as we are told them on this page in the pink section below.
We are regularly told this is a priority for Surrey CC to fix as it is a School learning space too, affecting Oakwood students who need the space to do PE.
Classes have been temporarily relocated while the building work is carried out from January 2025.
For full details please see https://springfit.org/2023/09/oakwood-class-relocation
THE LATEST NEWS
Wednesday 8th January 2025:
We have received confirmation that FINALLY work has started on repairing the roof of the gymnasium. This means we should be back in our regular hall and returning to our original schedule before long!
In the meantime, there is one last period of disruption that we need to navigate before we can all breathe a sign of relief.
We originally expected to be able to continue in the temporary gym next door, however, we recently found out this is now not possible as they are replacing the WHOLE ROOF in one go, plus doing some lovely upgrades to the windows and insulation.
For information on class relocations during this final period of disruption, please see https://springfit.org/2023/09/oakwood-class-relocation.
We would like to thank Oakwood Sports Centre staff and management for going to extreme lengths to accommodate us during the period of disruption. It was a huge undertaking to move their own activities around to allow us back and we must also thank Oakwood School for allowing the arrangements.
The repairs are expected to take between 6-12 weeks. This may depend on the weather and any unforeseen issues that crop up. We all know that building works can be difficult to keep to schedule!
Once again, thank you for your patience while we await a return date, at which point we will be in touch!
FAQs
What happened?
The gymnasium we run classes in was immediately closed on the afternoon of Thursday the 21st of September 2023 after a loose ceiling tile was discovered, leading to a lengthy Council investigation where water ingress was found between the roof and ceiling. There was concern this posed a potential safety risk to users of the hall and may need to be repaired before the hall could be reopened.
Some people were originally concerned about the presence of the widely reported “RAAC” concrete or asbestos in the ceiling, however, expert contractors confirmed that there was no RAAC or exposed asbestos present.
What is being done?
Surrey County Council (the owners of the school building) have arranged for the roof to be replaced from January 2025.
This has been labelled a priority repair as the gymnasium is a learning space for Oakwood school students too, who need the hall for PE activities.
What is the expected timeframe for returning to Oakwood?
The repairs are expected to take between 6-12 weeks, meaning we should be back in our regular hall before Easter 2025. This may depend on the weather and any unforeseen issues that could crop up.
The School Governors, Business Manager, Caretaker and Manager of the Sports Centre are communicating with Surrey CC and the building contractors on a regular basis to ensure the space can be made available as soon as possible. Springfit are also being updated with news as we use the hall six days a week.
We will update the pink section at the top of this page as soon as we find out any further news or updates, and will be in touch will all members via email when we can return to our usual hall.
What will happen with our classes?
We have been able to relocate most of our gymnastics classes to a heated temporary structure at Oakwood and other arrangements are in place for trampolining. For full information, please see https://springfit.org/2023/09/oakwood-class-relocation
If you would like to move to an alternative session at any of our local venues for the duration of the disruption, please get in touch and we would be happy to check availability for you. For a full class schedule please see springfit.org/classes.
What are you doing about our payments?
Since we have been able to relocate classes and they are still running, we hope everyone will give the temporary arrangements a chance, but if you do wish to stop attending until we move back to the gymnasium, we are offering the chance to hold your place by changing your monthly subscription to £1 for two months, or however long the gymnasium is closed for. Please get in touch if you would like to arrange this and our team will do it for you.
We will be in touch again as soon as we have a date to return to our normal gymnasium at Oakwood.
We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to ensure the continuity of classes with minimal disruption for our Oakwood members and Coaches!
Thank you again to all of our lovely members for your messages of support and your cooperation during this frustrating time for us all.
