A gym in Hatfield that spent time helping the community during lockdown is making sure its customers are safe and secure while working out.
For privately owned businesses like énergie Fitness Hatfield another pause on their business could mean the end.
As Jason Lombard, club director with énergie Fitness, explains: “It depends on the length of time if we survive it. Four weeks would be disastrous for us and the community.
“But we’ve seen people coming back, a little bit heavier then we saw them in March.”
However, the business is no longer relying on in-person canvassing to get people on board and instead on word-of-mouth – which has helped drive up some memberships.
Jason adds that customers who refer others also get a free month back on their membership.
He also recently took a mental health first aid course, costing £1600, to help people more.
“We have seen how COVID has impacted a lot of members mental health and our staff. I want to get more staff trained but it will be a gradual process so we can help with more support.”
However most of all the Hemel Hempstead local, who was going to move closer to Hatfield before the pandemic, felt the time not being in the gym during lockdown allowed him to focus on what they could do to support the community.
So partnered with Herts Domestic Abuse Helpline and Hatfield Town Council to organise a 48-hour virtual relay race, which raised £1,305, back in June when gyms were still closed.
For more on the work énergie has put in see here energiefitness.com/hatfield.
Also for Shop Local, the WHT would like to let readers know about a new Rise Gym opened in WGC, where Argos used to be, two weeks before lockdown.
It has a wide range of facilities such as a state-of-the-art spin ICG MY RIDE spin room, an ice bath, climbing wall, cave, reaction wall and more.
Rebecca Webb, sales and marketing executive at Rise Gym, said: “We still have a lot of people come in daily that don’t even know we are here until they walk past.
“It is a beautiful gym, there is no other gym like this around. We are a new gym that has bought a city style gym out to the suburbs. We were lucky to enough to have Third Space London interior designers design this gym for us.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here