NO ORDINARY DAY JOB: A day in the life of Beau Sejour

Wednesday 14 February 2024

It has just ticked past 09:30 on a Friday morning and Beau Sejour is alive. The island’s only publicly funded leisure centre is fulfilling its primary purpose while also clearly fulfilling its other purpose as a civic centre.

The Beau Sejour pool, which earlier would have been dominated by people training hard before work, is now more serene but still full with the bodies of more casual swimmers and those taking adult lessons.

In the cafe, small groups sit around tables chatting, some with a bead of sweat still visible.

In the gym, young and old are side by side, some talking while on exercise bikes, others lifting weights in the corner.

There is still evidence of the odd programme from last night when the theatre was packed full for the Guernsey Sports Commission’s annual sports awards.

A poster advertises an upcoming theatre production.

Outside, people walk the grounds, looking in on tennis courts and the bowling green as they do a circuit.

Pictured: GADOC's production of 9-5 filled the theatre (Tim Langlois).

For the staff that keep Beau Sejour operating in all its forms, it is very much a vocation.

“It's about giving back to the community. It's about the hub, the stories that you hear about,” said Head of Recreation Services Sam Herridge.

“There are people who’re going swimming and it's the only chance they get to get out of the house, have a coffee afterwards and chat with their friends before they go home to care for their loved ones.

“It's about the change it can bring about. It's the Mrs Smith who before coming to Beau Sejour and doing a rehab program, couldn't get up her front steps to her door and needed carers and now she no longer does.

“Those type of stories are why we do it.

“We believe that leisure has a huge part to play in terms of the community and the changing demographic that we're going to be struggling with in the next few years. It's about living well, living longer, and being able to look after yourself.”

Built in December 1976, Beau Sejour is the only community leisure centre on the island.

Anyone can come through its doors and use the facilities; you do not need to be a member.

“Yes, we need to drive income, because we need to be able to support the services that we deliver, but essentially, we should be accessible for everyone and every part of the community.”

Beau Sejour is unusual in terms of the range of facilities it offers, very few municipal offerings in the UK would have a 400-seat theatre for example.

“Trying to combine everything is often quite a bit of a juggling act, which is why our booking and planning team are integral.

“They look after the individual birthday party bookings, but they also look after the contract bookings for volleyball, squash, basketball, they also look after all the events bookings, so all of the dinners, the dances, the Liberation dances. That booking and planning team communicate with the operational team and also make sure that we're not double booking, that there's not too many events on at the same time, because that then puts pressure on things like parking.”

Pictured: Orla Rabey swimming for Guernsey during the 2023 Island Games (David Ferguson).

The numbers are testament to its community offering.

Footfall in 2023 was 516,000 with more than 2,300 members, about 4% of the population. 35,000 fitness class places were booked.

There were more than 50 events in the Dave Ferguson Hall and theatre. In the gym, there were 52,000 attendances from people as young as 14 to those in their 90s. There were more than 3,300 casual court bookings, which excludes those made by clubs, for table tennis, football, volleyball, short tennis and badminton.

In the pool, there were more than 2,000 swim school attendances each week and 55,000 casual swimming admissions over the year, that does not include the swimming lessons offered by the clubs.

There were 4,6000 active health admissions, which include GP referrals, self-referrals and those needing rehabilitation.

Last year’s Island Games, which packed the swimming pool and sports hall for the basketball for a week in July, left a lasting impression.

Footfall after the Games ended was significantly higher than in previous years for the rest of July and August.

Interest in basketball has shot up, while volleyball, not even on the schedule at the 2023 Games, is also picking up.

“From our perspective it inspired everybody to get into sport, but it also inspired people to think about Beau Sejour.”

In the decades of its existence, Beau Sejour has been adapted and changed according to trends and needs. That continues.

When it first opened there was no gym, and when one did open in the 1980s it was small and downstairs in the Dungeon. Even when the new one opened after the refurbishment for the 2003 Island Games, there were few others in the island. Now there is a plethora of choices from private operators to virtual options at home and personal training.

“We've always said one of our USPs is the community aspect. There are people who spend a lot of time on their own and actually want to come and socialise. And one of the best things to help you do an exercise program is meeting somebody, isn't it?

“We don't necessarily have the most expensive equipment. We've got functional kit, it works. We've got a brilliant team here. And that's in the gym, in the classes, in events, front of house, teachers, and they're engaging and getting out into the community.”

A review is about to be conducted of Beau Sejour. It aims to find out what the community and key stakeholders want the centre to be and deliver. That will help it plan for the future, to adapt again.

It is currently run by the equivalent of 60 full time staff - but many of the roles are part time. There are also casual workers that come in to cover things like lifeguarding.

During each shift the building is managed by a duty manager, a senior recreation assistant and usually three recreation assistants.

So, five staff are responsible for more or less everything that happens in the building, from lifeguarding, to setting up lane ropes, getting badminton courts ready, to preparing for events.

Around three people are then also in the booking and planning team, which also covers Footes Lane, Delancey Park and they will soon take on community bookings at schools.

There is support for marketing, then half a dozen core instructors for the classes offered each week, supplemented by the casual support. Five full time staff run the swim school office.

“It's a fairly lean operation to be able to deliver everything, that's why we all turn our hands to everything if we need to.”

The staff get to know those using the centre, checking when familiar faces do not turn up, helping take people home if a taxi does not turn up.

“Our service not essential in the way that the health service, the hospital or education is. But we feel it's essential in terms of mental health, in terms of physical health, in terms of prevention and in terms of just living a good life.”

Adapting has also meant making the most of opportunities to partner with others.

“We're always looking at ways to work with the community to deliver services. We used to run our own holiday club, but that was actually very time intensive. Following the pandemic, we liaised with Sports Stars and so now they run their holiday club at Beau Sejour.

“It's about working with partners to deliver what's best for the community. For example, the Toddler Sensory and the Baby Sensory, makes sense in a community venue. It's somewhere for people to congregate and chat, as well. They can have a coffee afterwards.”

Those sensory sessions have moved in to rooms above the cafe that were, before the more widespread use of online meetings, hosting in-person events.

It is another sign of change.

“We try to be creative in the way we use spaces. If a space is empty, we need to try and fill it with something.

“Another example is the Dave Ferguson Hall. When the centre was built it was an Indoor Bowls hall. They moved out when they got their own venue. Then it became roller skating. Then that gradually got less and less popular. So then it developed to become an events hall.

“Is that event market going to hang around? Is it still going to remain popular? Is it still needed? If not, we need to think about how we use that space. So it’s about adapting all the time.”

Pictured top: Head of Recreation Services, Sam Herridge.

This article first appeared in the February edition of CONNECT, Express' sister publication. 

The latest edition of CONNECT can be read HERE.