West Norwood Health and Leisure Centre - Active Lambeth

“Thoroughly enjoy my time in the pool, perfect temperature and love the staff - especially that one lifeguard ;) Beautiful surroundings as it’s located conveniently in a leafy park, great for keeping fit apart from when FEAST festival is in town as I’m often tempted by Joanna’s gooey soft brownies! I always struggle to find the perfect brownie, for years I’ve found them too stodgy however I think that the best combination of flavour and oven time has been perfected by Joanna. Back to the leisure centre, there is also a gym which has an amazing selection of treadmills - my favourite is the second to the right as I’ve found the first to have a dodgy belt and not run smoothly. I also love the bikes, it’s easier on the knees (larger lady alert). All in all I love this leisure centre so much, I travel from Walthamstow every day!”

“Nice clean changing area good length swim pool 2m deep very helpful staff and greeted nicely at reception desk. I really enjoy swimming here”

“The centre is extremely overcrowded, and it is almost impossible to book group classes. Popular classes like yoga and Pilates are always fully booked. To get a place, you have to log in and book within the first five minutes after booking opens — otherwise, there is no chance at all. Even if you are lucky enough to book a class, the experience is still very poor due to overcrowding. Yesterday, I attended a Body Conditioning class with 15 participants plus the instructor in a very small studio. There was barely any space to move. It was almost impossible to focus on the exercises because I was constantly worried about hitting someone next to me, especially during bar work. The situation is made even worse by the lack of functioning lockers. Out of 25 lockers, only 3 are working. As a result, people are forced to bring their bags and jackets/coats into an already overcrowded studio. I reported this locker issue before Christmas, but it has been completely ignored and nothing has been repaired. Active Lambeth invested in the gym area a few months ago, but it seems that this is where the improvements stopped. To be fair, I have to add that the instructors and staff are polite and clearly try to do their job well. Unfortunately, lack of organisation and unresolved issues make the overall experience stressful and disappointing.”

“NO MEN'S CHANGING ROOM OR TOILETS. The mens changing room at the gym has been closed for YEARS with no sign of opening again. All men have to share one disabled toilets which is out of order most of the time. The other alternative is to leave the gym, go downstairs and use the toilets at the GP practice next door. This is also out of order! I've uploaded pictures. The rest of the gym is below average with a tiny free weights section. Not worth going at peak times because nothing will be available. Swimming pool has only just re-opened after years of refurbishment, seems decent but haven't used much.”