LOCKDOWN was a punishing period for industries like leisure and hospitality, so much so that in the four short weeks of January 2021, the Sands Centre made a loss of £46,620.

But on Thursday, Carlisle City Council’s leisure provider, GLL, told councillors about their plan to fight back.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Panel, Tom Rice, partnership manager for GLL told members about the extent of the challenges

He said: “We secured around about £750,000 of external funding and that’s made up of the furlough scheme, recovery funding and business grants.

“We were also successful in securing £143,000 in Sport England funding. We basically made a very small loss for the entire year, £19,000 lost.

“It’s really the back end of last year that we really started to return to normal.”

Looking ahead to 2022 and eager to put the Covid-19 pandemic behind them, Mr Rice said: “We’re very keen to refocus and put the customer at the heart of everything we do.”

The newly redeveloped Sands Centre will be the focus of GLL’s recovery from Covid.

Mr Rice said that the redeveloped events and leisure space will be “world class” with a 20 metre pool with a fully movable floor.

Tailored gym sessions will be part of the offering as GLL bosses are conscious that some who are new to fitness may want to train at a quieter time.

“We’re very keen on embracing equality diversity and inclusion. The Sands itself is going to help greatly with that.”

Once the £27 million redevelopment of the Sands Centre is complete, GLL staff will be moved to the venue from the pools on James Street, creating concern for the swimming provision there as well as the adjoining Turkish Baths and Victorian Health Suite.

But Mr Rice confirmed that talks are underway with council officers to explore how GLL may continue to play a role at the James Street Baths in the future.

One of the challenges that GLL will continue to face for the rest of 2022 and beyond is the rising cost of energy.

“Some of the figures we’re seeing at the minute with gas and electricity prices are eye watering. There won’t be a pool in the country that isn’t going to lose hundreds of thousands because of gas costs.”