THE clock is ticking down to the takeover of leisure services in Torridge by the newly created independent organisation set up by Torridge District Council — “Active Torridge”.

From April all facilities and services will transfer from the current contractor 1610 and a recruitment drive has already brought together an experienced and eager team to reenergise leisure provision for Torridge residents and visitors.

From Friday, April 1, there was a short period of closure for all facilities to allow for a deep clean, lick of paint, and small works to spruce up facilities for reopening, ahead of longer term regeneration plans and investment.

Holsworthy leisure centre reopened on April 4.

The Active Torridge team have also been putting together new schedules of classes and fitness opportunities, which will also be released over the coming weeks. 1610 have already written to members to confirm that current memberships will automatically be transferred to Active Torridge from the handover date.

During this reopening phase Active Torridge will be showcasing some of the new equipment and introducing team members via video blogs and pictures as well as sharing more of their future plans. The best place to follow this progress will be on Active Torridge’s dedicated Facebook page @activetorridge as well as Torridge Councils website and social media.

Matthew Wright, head of leisure operations at Active Torridge, said: “There’s been a lot of hard work and organising going on behind the scenes in recent weeks and months, which all herald a bright new beginning for leisure in Torridge. I’m looking forward to working with our enthusiastic team and users of our facilities, to deliver an altogether better leisure experience for everyone. While we might have wanted to have everything available from day one, we have tried to keep the necessary closures and initial rollout schedule as short as possible. This gives us just enough time to move our organisation in, and give our centres a spruce up ahead of the relaunch under the Active Torridge banner.

“I’m confident this will be the start of a whole new era for leisure in Torridge and one our users will enjoy experiencing.”