Sports membership update

Great news everyone, following on from my blog a few weeks back about the lack of gym membership options for PhD students (and other post-grads) I’ve got an update. Sports and Rec have agreed to introduce a membership that runs from 1st Jan-31st Aug each year, as it runs for 2/3’s of the time of a normal membership it costs 2/3’s of the price. While I don’t think this is the perfect solution to the problem, it’s definitely an improvement. It will allow people to start a membership at an alternative time of year without paying more.

It’s doesn’t however solve the problem I had, where I wanted to start a membership even later than January. There is another option that I’ve been made aware of though and you can find it here. Basically there is an option to run month long memberships in the summer months. This will bridge that gap I have in the summer when the 3 month membership I currently have runs out. It does cost more than the monthly price of the longer memberships but is definitely cheaper than paying as you go (at least for someone who uses it 2-3 times per week).

I think it’s brilliant that the sports and rec team responded to my concerns, and while I personally think it still misses the point that post-grads may want to run a membership from any point in the year, I appreciate being listened to and action being taken. At least with these new options there are ways to fill the gaps until memberships restart at the beginning of the academic year helping make it easier for postgrads to enjoy the same benefits as undergrads.