Behind the Scenes: May ‘21
As government restrictions continue to ease, community facilities like Atlantis are able to gradually reopen following closure during lockdown. It’s been all go at Atlantis as the team continue their phased reintroduction of activities. Read on to find out more:
Pool
The Pools reopened on the 1st of June with lane swimming, private swimming lessons and family fun sessions available via an online booking system on our website.
We’re delighted to welcome Emma D’Arcy as the new Oban Swim School Coordinator. Emma has always had a passion for swimming, first lit many moons ago in our very own Small Pool where she learned to swim with both Oban Otters and Oban Life Savers. After a spell away from Oban to further her career in Sports Development which included a stint in the States, Emma came back to town and has already been helping out with the Swim School for the past 7 years. Emma’s appointment comes ahead of the Swim School starting back after the summer school holidays
Ahead of reopening our pools, we recently ran a Royal Life Saving Society pool lifeguard session RLSS. This qualified the remaining cohort of staff to the highest standard, ready for the first of the returning swimmers..
Staff
Claire Keen has taken on a new role within the Atlantis team. Alongside working on Atlantis’ marketing, swimming teaching and coaching responsibilities, Claire will be co-ordinating our StayActive Programme. StayActive works alongside Lorn Healthy Options graduates to help them keep up the great progress they’ve made. StayActive uses supervised sessions in the gym as well as education sessions to offer this support.
After 4 years of hard work and valuable input, Iwan Roberts is leaving Atlantis for pastures new later in the month. Iwan will still be based in the town with wife Lindsay as they both continue to contribute to the life of the community, including Iwan serving as a Director on the Adventure Oban Board. Iwan will be sorely missed and we wish him all the very best with the exciting time ahead.
Group Fitness Class
We’re delighted to welcome Jade Brown back to the coaching team at Atlantis. Jade is a familiar face in the Centre, working for many years in the team before pursuing a career in teaching and starting a family. Jade is helping us run our new Community Fitness programme, details of which can be found on our website.
PlaySport
PlaySport continues to enjoy enthusiastic participation as over 100 young people join a team led by Claire and Kevin each week. PlaySport offers access to a varied programme including football, athletics, tennis and climbing. Gregor Brydon continues to support the programme with tennis tuition.
The team is boosted by two former Atlantis members of staff who volunteered to help out in whatever way they can. Lucy and Erin – it’s great to have you back with us.
As the year rolls into summer, we’re working in partnership with other local community-run organisations to plan a summer holiday programme that builds on the groundwork that PlaySport achieves throughout the year. Details will be made available on our website and social media channels once finalised.
Café
Beth and Iain have been busy behind the scenes to get the Café ready for reopening in time for the summer school holidays. Some of the work they’ve completed includes a new coffee machine and new floor in the Café itself. Keep an eye on our social media channels for news of when the Café will reopen.
Facilities
We’ve been working behind the scenes to continue our ongoing grant funding applications. Due to our success with some of these, we’ve been able to continue to look after the Centre and ensure an excellent level of cleanliness in the post-Covid era. We’ve been able to renew some of the 25 year old flooring throughout the Centre as well as refurbishing the wet-side changing toilet facilities. This comes as we continue our 3 weekly electrostatic fogging schedule to ensure added protection and safety for the community and our staff.