JP HEDGE on the growth of health and wellbeing in the city

OPINION JP HEDGE

The Riverside pool is once again open to the public

Raising health

JP is excited about the city’s energy and commitment to prioritising health and wellbeing

I’m so pleased to see The Riverside pool open again. If anyone has seen Tom Hanks in the comedy The Money Pit, I believe Exeter was the inspiration.

Astonishing lengths have gone into getting the pool open again – some four and a half years after it caught fi re. The gym and the rest of the much-loved facilities have, of course, been open for a while now. But getting the pool back open for summer means a massive chapter is closing and a new exciting time around getting fi t in the city is opening up.

And after the 18 months we have all had, I don’t think there is a better time to put fi tness and health at the heart of your family life.

Elected members of the council were meeting at the historic Guildhall the night of the fi re. I made it to the entrance of the meeting before I was diverted to take a look down the hill. By this time you could see the smoke from the High Street. Another 15 mins and I think the damage would have been too severe to repair. It was that close. The size of the fi re meant nearby residents were also evacuated and housed because of the impact.

“If the city is healthy and happy, we all thrive”

Two gerbils were rescued.

After the initial fi re damage was repaired, lots of big decisions were taken by those elected around new repairs. These were things that couldn’t have been predicted, and only came about because of the work that was taking place. They were big and expensive. Offi cers watched as, multiple times in the face of newly discovered issues and costs, there were choices to rebuild, or walk away.

So much has changed since the fi re. I don’t just mean a couple of Prime Ministers, Brexit and a pandemic. The pool and spa of course look great. A huge thing I am hoping our leisure members will notice is that the council have taken over the running of the facility.

So what you may ask. Well, it’s no longer just about profi ts. ECC have a vested interest in everyone’s health and wellbeing. There is a bigger picture. If the city is healthy and happy, we all thrive.

So now this city has the facilities, brilliant staff to run them, and a Sport England Delivery Pilot with snazzy ways to help try and get us all off our bums.

The real big thing for me is Exeter Live Better.

From the signs you see on the way in to the city, or on the shirts of the Chiefs, it has always been more than a slogan. But this year you should see the results of putting the wellbeing of residents at the heart of everything the council does.

That is easier said than done in the midst of fi res, budget cuts, and pandemics. But we are now entering a fantastic phase where residents should start to know what Exeter Live Better means in every-day hum drum life.

It’s living better – because you live in this city. Good old Exeter. Hooray for that.

Now the doors of Riverside are open and the vaccine drive has given us half a chance at life, the next job is to get the doors of the world class St Sidwell’s Point open for use asap.

We’ve stuck to a low membership cost, and good casual use prices too. And very shortly, hopefully by the time you are reading this, we’ll be able to introduce a new Exeter Live Better card. It is aimed at further helping those where price is still a barrier to fun and exercise. I don’t know anywhere that is doing this and who have ducked the industry formula of the usual student discounts.

It might have taken us the length of a world war to get there, but here’s to a summer of swimming, a summer endorphin-fuelled fi tness and a summer bursting with fun. ■

Jon-Paul Hedge is a director at Exeter City Council where he currently looks after leisure. He is a former newspaper editor and lives in the city with his wife and two young children. www.exeter.gov.uk