Aquafit participants at the Ravensong Pool are upset and angry that the popular program has now been reduced due to a lack of instructors.
Around 40 to 50 participants of the 10-11 a.m. morning moves aquafit class that runs three times a week were recently told the drop-in program was cancelled from May 16 to June 29. A lot of the users said the cancellation was unacceptable.
“Those of us who have supported the facility and in turn relied on the programs to keep us well are very angry,” Maureen Fowles wrote in her letter to the Regional District of Nanaimo.
“As of today, our options to strive for wellness by doing aquafit have been severely reduced. Classes have been cancelled across the board putting even more pressure on an over taxed facility to accommodate unmanageable demand for service. Something has to be done.”
The Ravensong pool also offers shallow and deep water classes from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. evening classes were also dropped for now.
Manager of Recreation Services Dean Banman indicated the RDN has always had difficulties hiring instructors. And the ones they normally hire are often young students, who have other commitments that doesn’t allow them to teach from Monday to Friday. He added they still managed to successfully hire staff in the past but were faced with a dilemma recently when one staff member was not able to teach the class due to unforseen circumstances. Aquatics superintendent Mike Chestnut said they looked at other options and strategies to recruit instructors..
“We’ve tried to coerce people to do more and getting involved,” said Chestnut. “We tried every recruitment tool that I can come up with from paying for their training to better shifts, getting daytime shifts, all sorts of things.”
Sandra Dye said she relies on the aqua fit classes under the advice of her physician as it helps her range of motion. She wrote to the chair of the commission Julian Fell and told him “the aqua fit classes are not a game to most of us. It is part of our survival as functioning members of society.”
Chestnut said he understands the impact this is having to many seniors and that they are doing their best to rectify the situation.
