Council caught in Gym Slip

THERE ARE seven outdoor gyms in Tower Hamlets – and they are waiting for residents to dash out between the April showers and have a quick work-out on your own, with friends, or during one of the coaching sessions available.

The outdoor gyms have a variety of equipment so that you can do your cardio, get your strength and toning up to scratch – or just have fun. You can also use The Great Outdoor (TGO) app to track your progress.

However, you might find it hard to find out what is going on at your outdoor gym and when the instructor sessions are being held.

If you search the Tower Hamlets Council website for “outdoor gym”, the top result announces that there will be eight outdoor gyms operating over the summer. Go through to the page, however – and it becomes clear that these are the events which happened last summer, 2018.

The second result looks more promising: “Free outdoor gym classes for 2019”. The page offers no information – but it does have a link to a second page entitled “Free Outdoor Gym classes for 2019”. Yes!

No. There is a list of outdoor gyms, and days of the week and times when instructors will be present to run sessions. Sadly, it’s a case of so near but yet so far: the explanation at the top states that this is the schedule running until Easter/May 2019.

In these circumstances, you might want to be a good citizen and report the problem to the Tower Hamlets Council. If you go back to the website home page, you can find a link to a “contact us” page – which includes a link inviting you to register a problem with the website.

Sadly, clicking that link takes you to a page which tells you that you can only report a problem with the website if you have an account. It is quite easy to open an account: you just have to enter your email address and a password (twice) and go to your email account and click the link to verify your application… At which point you have to fill out a form with your personal details, including your date of birth.

Why Tower Hamlets Council needs to know your date of birth before it accepts your report of what is wrong with its website is a mystery – but at that point your intrepid reporter gave up.

If you would like to use one of the Council’s outdoor gyms, you can probably find them in Millwall Park, Ropewalk Gardens, Shandy Park, Sir John McDougall Gardens, Rounton Road Open Space, Pollard Square or Jolly’s Green. If you find an instructor there, do let us know when they hold their sessions.

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