Wokingham

12.9.08 Spate of thefts at fitness centre by Johnny Fordham in Get Reading Reproduced in full apart from photo
http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2035362_spate_of_thefts_at_fitness_centre_

A gym-goer lost more than a few pounds when she went for a workout. Emma Sinclair was shocked to find her handbag gone after a session at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre in Lower Earley on August 28. At first the 31-year-old thought she hadn’t locked her locker but when she put her key in her money fell out from the slot as she expected. The thief had stolen her belongings leaving no trace.

Miss Sinclair, who works in PR, has since been upset at the gym’s lack of warnings following a spate of thefts last month in the ladies’ locker room, including five on August 25, between noon and 1.30pm. A shocked Miss Sinclair, of Barker Court, Hurst, explained: “After I realised what had happened the panic set in. I went downstairs and the manager said somebody else had their wallet stolen. I checked to see if my car was there and luckily it was. But then I thought I had my driver’s licence in my car with my address and house keys and they could have easily been in my house. I had everything in my bag and I reckon it’s going to cost me close to a £1,000. I had a bit of cash in my wallet, but it’s worthless things like my glasses and handbag which will cost the most to replace.”

Miss Sinclair, who lives with her boyfriend, added: “We’ve had to change the locks at home and I’m without my car for two weeks as those are also being changed. I left my car there that night after the AA disabled it, but all the police said would they would keep an eye on it. It doesn’t look like I’ll get much through insurance as well. You wouldn’t expect it when you leave things in a locker, but I guess the leisure centre would say it’s down to your own risk. By the sounds of it it’s something that happens quite a lot, but people don’t really know about it.”

Wokingham Borough Council spokeswoman Andrea Jenkins said it was working with the leisure centre’s management Leisure Connection and police to make sure people’s possessions were kept safe. She said: “We have supplied the police with CCTV footage, but unfortunately for obvious reasons we don’t have CCTV in the changing rooms.

“Extra signage has been put up at Loddon Valley and staff have been told to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.”

Police spokesman Adam Fisher said he believed the thefts were an isolated incident and the crime investigation management unit was looking into it.

Crikey! I would also be upset to learn that no warnings were given to the public after a spate of stealing. I am not sure how several thefts become "an isolated incident". Is it something to do with massaging crime statisitics? And how was the locker opened without being forced. PB

‘Guards didn’t see my boy in swim trouble’ http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2033784_guards_didnt_see_my_boy_in_swim_trouble

By Linda Fort 14/ 8/2008 Reproduced in full apart from photo.

A mum has accused lifeguards of failing in their duty after an eight-year-old boy got into difficulties swimming underwater at a Lower Earley pool. Owen Pearce, of Mylum Close, Whitley Wood, was swimming with friends and his friend’s mother on Monday at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre when the incident happened. His mother Natalie Stevens, who was not present, said: “I’m told Owen was swimming underwater when it happened.”

She said his friend’s mum who had climbed out of the pool noticed Owen had been under for a long time. Miss Stevens, 32, said: “She saw Owen was in trouble under the water and couldn’t come up. The lifeguards were not even looking at the time. She jumped in and pulled him out.”

She said Owen was very pale and distressed by the incident. He had lost strength in his legs while he was underwater and was unable to swim to the surface.

Miss Stevens said: “Afterwards when the incident was reported they fobbed her [the friend’s mum] off with two tennis vouchers.”

A member of the family went back to the leisure centre to remonstrate with the staff there later, and claims she saw there had been a second incident, which the leisure centre has denied, involving a little girl on the same day when the incident involving Owen was brought up on a computer screen.

Miss Stevens said: “The manager said to him, ‘You weren’t supposed to see that’.” She said: “My concern is that they are supposed to be trained to watch out for children getting into trouble in the water and they are not doing their jobs. He could have drowned.”

Rebecca Douglas, spokeswoman for Leisure Connection which owns the swimming pool, said: “The lifeguards reacted to this incident immediately and followed the correct course of action. Our duty manager stayed with the child and his guardian, and provided the necessary health and safety advice and followed the necessary course of action. There were no other incidents at the centre that day. Tennis vouchers were offered to the family as a way to encourage the child back to the centre as we were told he has a passion for tennis and want to ensure he continues to enjoy sport and physical activity.”

And who is the spokeswoman? A manager at Loddon Valley? A senior manager from LC? Someone who knows the leisure centre well? Someone who knows about health and safety in swimming pools?

No, she is not even a direct employee of LC. Rebecca Douglas works for Mortimer Chadwick Gray Public Relations and is based in Leeds. When not commenting on life guarding you might find her working for Fashion and Textile Employers. LC appointing a spin nursing assistant (well she's hardly Alistair Campbelll or Lynn Franks) is not much of a step up from their historic approach to press queries - "No one from the company was available for comment".

I note that the denial is that "There were no other incidents at the centre that day." So what the relative claimed to have seen might have been from the day before or at one of the other Wokinghan Council owned centres? PB

In the complaint summary received for the year to July 2006 11 customers had reported issues at Carnival. Of these six concerned the Learner Pool and four concerned cleaning.

The QUEST report based on visits towards the end of 2005 noted "Despite the very positive results … the accuracy and completeness of staff training records was not good…. Consideration should be given to a system where Staff are demonstrating proof of knowledge/competence rather than just saying they were trained. could be given a fundamental review." Under Cleaning seven sub-categories were rated "2" - "yes you do this but you have not implemented it fully", the second lowest score on a scale of 1 -4. The other sub-categories were "3" - "Yes you do this but there are still areas for improvement." Issues noted include insufficient specification for cleaners, storage of chemicals, and "sporadic" cleaning checks.

Under Maintenance the sub-heading for planned, preventative maintenance (PPM) and inspection programmes also got a "2". There was "no evidence" that external PPM contracts were being effectively monitored. And, "The Corrective Action Log contained a prioritisation system to enable identification of Health & Safety defects. This system is not being used.."

Under Environmental Control is a heading for energy and environmental policy objectives with a rating "1" - "You do not do this at all." Four of the other nine headings had ratings of "2". Thus, ""Staff knowledge of the Building Management System appeared very limited. As such, routine control and adjustment to ensure optimum customer conditions and also to minimise energy consumption was not being addressed as competently as it could be." Given the tendency of QUEST to understate, this can be interpreted as their version of a bollocking.

Under Health & Safety Management are 11 headings, four of which receive "2" ratings, including staff training, risk assessment, control of hazardous substances, safe working practices and control of contractors on site.

Under Staff Supervision and Planning there are six rated headings and four of these are "2". Thus we know insufficient "resources are allocated to meet the standard of service promised to customers", staff are not all suitably qualified and trained for their duties, there is inadequate cover for absences and inadequate time allowed for meetings, handover and trainings. The report notes, "Within the WDC website it is stated that Fitness Staff are always available within Harpers…this was not actually the case as the available supervision hours were cut back earlier in the year." And "It was evident during the Assessment that on a number of occasions there were insufficient backup staff to cover sickness and holidays. This as creating some tensions in the team as they were having to work extra hours or take on extra duties."

Under People Management there are six subheadings, four of which are rated "2" and two of which get "4". It was noted that only Crèche and swimming teachers were screened (presumably CRB checked) while "many other staff could find themselves in vulnerable situations with children...". Is LC waiting for a paedophile to be found in their employ or, worse still, to be convicted for abusing children through his position, before it routinely checks all employees with access to young people? There is also a need for the pubic to have confidence that those who might have access to locker master keys have at least no recent convictions for dishonesty.

Two monitoring reports were received, for April and June 2006. The later was limited to an outside inspection. Some areas were reported as satisfactory but less happy items noted included:.