Splash — Local services in Great Britain

it really pains me to have to write such an awful review about a local leisure facility, one in which i have been so dedicated to using over the past few years,

just recently I took my children swimming to an after school big splash session, with my children being non confident swimmers i kept them in the small splash section dedicated to non swimmers, this area has the main access to the pool but people are not disturbed when trying to teach little ones to swim,,

well so i thought,.... on multiple occasions a group of teenagers ran through kicking and splashing water, to which no life guard and i say that very lightly as i wouldn't put them in charge of my life if i ever had an accident while swimming, a bunch of children who have just gained the first 25m badge ???? anyway kids will be kids i was a teenager once and messed around, but!!! this went to far and one of the lads knocked over my daughter causing her to go under the water, yes she had arm bands on and i was right by her side, however no acknowledgement from any safety staff not even the blow of a whistle,,,, where as if it was my jumping in i can 100% bet that a whistle would of been blown,

so i took it upon myself to shout to the lads watch where ya going and an apology wouldn't go a miss, shocked by this very brave teenagers response was to offer me out for a fight ha ha ha ha ha, im six ft 5 and 20 stone safe to say this little whippet wouldnt of stood a chance, anyways i got out of the pool and told the little rat id drown him,

after seeing to my daughter of course, then the life guards where on duty for the protection of the teenager ...... funny isnt it,,

anyways my daughter is safe an had a minor bruise as to where she fell,,

splash manager responded to the altercation agreeing with what happened to be wrong and she would re train the staff,,,

and she also suspended my membership as she felt as though she had to,

to which I politely asked to be refunded and just terminate my membership,

she declined this and passed me on to some made up senior management team.

basically she sat down again had a good long think about how right i was and that she couldn't keep me in a contract and suspend it so she back tracked and terminated my agreement as requested,

i will happily go and spend money elsewhere you have to put your children first in any element of safeguarding

shame on you splash for thinking about money before child safety you could of kept your 24.99 it might of bought you some...

I've lived in Stockton all my life and always trekked over to the Forum for swimming (probably as that's where my folks always took me), so this was my first visit to Splash.

Current COVID restrictions meant the slides and wave pool were out of action, but that didn't stop us enjoying a swim. Restricted numbers and lack of 'exciting' activities probably worked in our favour as everything was nice and quiet and relaxed (I'd assume the slide goes hand in hand with a few yells of joy).

I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the changing rooms, their size, and they're at a nice temperature so you don't shiver when you've finished (Stokesley pool take note!).

The bubble pool areas are also a neat idea (atop the usual baby pool and main pool).

Booking in advance so you don't need money when you arrive is good. The one way system was implemented nicely and everyone was very sensible with keeping distance etc. But you kinda have to question wearing a mask into the building when you'll be taking it off to swim around the same folks you just walked in with, and then putting it back on to walk out with them again. Rules are rules though.

I'm only docking one star for the lockers. Great system, money-less and key-less (you get a wristband that magically assigns to the locker you pick and handles opening/locking it), but despite ample signage about all the rules to follow, I didn't see anything about how to operate a locker. For a newbie like me that was a bit of a puzzle. Not helped by the fact that the first 2 lockers I tried didn't seem to be working (else I'd probably have figured it out correctly on...

Splash has always been a really good place for kids and families.

The changing rooms are good, showers plentiful and there's lots of space on the pool on an average day. Of course during the school holidays it does get a bit too crowded.

The slide and wave machine are so much fun and probably the highlight of the session.

I'm not quite sure how long the session is but if it's one hour or seems a bit too short for the kids. Even one hour and 30 minutes would be more suitable.

When it comes to public swimming times and days it seems like sessions are moving around throughout the year and not consistent.

Checking online for the various sessions is a bit confusing too. You're left feeling frustrated at what should be something so simple to accomplish. I always ended up having to call the reception desk. During which time an automated recording recommends you check the website rather than wait on the phone line. Perhaps they haven't tried the website?

I'm not too keen on the adult sessions in the evenings either as they always seem far too congested. Furthermore for what they cost it just doesn't seem like good value for money. As i prefer swimming as my main choice of sports/fitness I ended up going to Total Fitness.

Staff at Splash are all very friendly and helpful, even when there are long queues of people.

The membership scheme for kids swimming is good value for money.

Overall I would recommend Splash to families, just be prepared to have to keep checking session times every...