Overview

A wheelchair accessible leisure centre in the heart of the buzzing and friendly Dronfield Community. This community venue has helpful and attentive staff who are on hand to support throughout your visit. Whether its advice about an appropriate gym programme or support transferring to the pool someone will be available to enable participation in the leisure activities. Local shops, market (every Thursday) library and cafes are within close distance should you wish to explore the local area.

Transport & Parking

The venue has 7 disabled bays across 2 x car parks. These are larger bays which will aid with transfers and unloading of equipment. There is a bus stop directly outside the leisure centre at the bottom of the ramped access into the building.

Access

There was no signage into the building, however access was to a high standard throughout the venue with accessibility to the majority of the areas within the centre. The venue can be accessed by a 10-15m, inclined path, which leads directly to the reception and information desk. You can also access the building by a short set of stairs (12-15 steps) which have bilateral hand rails and corduroy paving stones. 2 x sets of automatic doors allow entry into the building. The first floor is all level access and there is a through the floor lift leading to the second floor. This allows access to both areas of the gym suite. The corridors around the building are 1.35m in width and the doors to the changing rooms are 90cm. There are multiple emergency call alarms around the building and brail on most of the internal signage. There is easy access from the changing rooms into the swimming pool and a hoist with a specialist pool chair to allow for transfer into the pool.

Toilets

The toilets and shower facilities were easy to locate and very accessible due to level access. The toilet, shower and changing facilities were combined in one cubical which makes self-care and dressing easier if having used the swimming facilities. The shower had a drop down seat directly under the shower and one adjacent to it. There is a grab rail and emergency cord in the shower. The shower has level access and a riser rail bar to adjust the height of the shower. The toilet has a drop down rail on the left and a vertical, static grab rail. To the right their is a horizontal grab rail. The toilet is equipped with an emergency cord and a lumbar padded back rest and the toilet paper is within easy reach. The sink has a vertical hand rail on either side and has no pedestal and is not boxed in. This helps with manoeuvring around and positioning at the sink . There is a lever tap with thermostatic control.

Staff

Staff are helpful and friendly. It was useful to find out about the Just do more pass which provides discounted rates for those with disability.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I would certainly recommend this venue to other people.

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