Oxford City Council may cut ties with Fusion Lifestyle

Sports and leisure management organisation Fusion Lifestyle provides recreational sport, health and fitness activities to Oxford in partnership with the city council.

But there have been rumours, which the council has not denied, that Fusion’s contract will not be renewed when it expires in late March.

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Mum of nine-year-old twins and co-founder of the Family Swimming in Oxford Facebook group, Laura Craig Gray, said: “With just over four months to go until Fusion’s contract expires, it’s high time the city council announced their decision on the future of our public pools and the ice rink.  

“Fusion is an utterly chaotic organisation and we badly need a new custodian of our leisure services.

There has apparently been trouble getting swimming lessons booked. (Image: George Munro)

“Despite the best efforts of their long-suffering front-line staff, Fusion frequently cancels swimming lessons at very short notice and has failed to return fees in a timely manner.”

When approached for comment, the city council said it was working through its Leisure Futures Programme which looks at what happens to the running of facilities.

This is once the contract with Fusion comes to an end and that this included a tender process featuring an in-house comparator.

A spokesman added the council was working to recruit more lifeguards and swimming teachers “where there are current national recruitment issues”.

He concluded: “We are excited about the improvements we expect to see from a new contract.”

A mother of a seven year old based in Temple Cowley, Eliza Hilton, said: “Fusion have to go.

Parent Eliza Hilton (Image: Eliza Hilton)

“Oxford needs a properly funded and accountable leisure service that can tackle the awful inequality in swimming ability between richer and poorer areas of the city.”

Kate, a mum of two, from Cowley, who did not reveal her surname, added: “I don’t believe the contract should be renewed as I am still having to go to Abingdon pool to get pool times that suit young children for our baby swim group.”

But Katja Shipp, an Aquanatal teacher who has run weekly classes at Barton Leisure Centre since 2019, said “there is a lot of improvement in running that potentially lovely Barton Leisure Centre”.

She added: “I’ve seen at least three managers come and go over the years, and in the last five months my sessions were regularly cancelled last minute because there weren’t enough staff available.”

Fusion Lifestyle did not respond to a request for comment from the Oxford Mail.