Folk living in the outer and inner isles will be able to sign up to membership of Active Islands from October the 14th.

This is a new membership option under Orkney’s ActiveLife scheme.

ActiveIslands will give islanders access to gym facilities and fitness classes on their specific island for £12.50 for month or £17.50 for a family. Budget memberships are also available at a cost of 50p per activity.

Islanders will still have the option to take out a full ActiveLife membership, giving them access to a full range of facilities across Orkney at a monthly cost of £19.50 for an individual or £29.50 for a family.

• Members will be able to freeze their membership for up to two months with a doctor’s line.
• The time between taking out memberships after a cancellation has been reduced from six months to three months.
• Classes cancelled at short notice by members will now result in members being charged the full cost of the class (rather than the previous flat rate of £2) – however, the notice required has been reduced from 12 hours to six hours to allow a bit more flexibility for members for unforeseen circumstances such as illness, etc.
• Single court activities will continue to be included in the scheme.

Garry Burton, Orkney Islands Council’s Sport and Leisure Manager said:

“Usage of sports and leisure facilities across Orkney are showing an astonishing rate of growth when compared to last year. Use of the gym at the Dounby Centre has increased by 910% for example.

“One of the areas that needed work was our offer for our isles residents and we’ve developed ActiveIslands in response to that.”

21% of all households in Orkney now have an Active Life Membership.

For more information on the ActiveLife scheme visit the Pickaquoy Centre website.