New leisure provider in Swale announced
Published
Wednesday 7 October, 2026
Updated
Wednesday 7 October, 2026
Local leisure centres will be getting a £2 million investment, improved facilities, and new membership options from April 2027.
Councillors have selected Everyone Active to manage Swale Borough Council’s leisure services for the next 10 years with an option to extend to 15 years.
Everyone Active has 39 years of experience managing sites across the country, and from April they will be overseeing Sheppey Leisure Complex, Swallows Leisure Centre, and Faversham Pools.
Existing staff at all three centres will transfer to Everyone Active as part of the new contract.
Cllr Hannah Perkin, chair of the Housing, Health and Communities Committee, said:
“We have ambitious goals for this contract, and Everyone Active shares our drive to deliver real, everyday benefits to our community. They will create active outreach programmes, hire local staff, and bring new people into our centres.
“Bringing Faversham Pools into this partnership secures its future. It allows us to offer memberships that span all three of Swale’s fantastic leisure centres, alongside much-needed discounts for those on low-income benefits and free access for carers.
“By investing an additional £2 million into our buildings, we will cut running costs and ensure future generations can enjoy these facilities. Following a brief standard legal pause, we look forward to officially welcoming Everyone Active to take the reins next year.”
As part of the standard legal process for major contracts, the council will observe an eight-working-day pause starting today (7 October) before officially confirming the award.
The council confirmed the model that the operator will use to work with the council, at a meeting last night (6 October).
In this new model the council continues to own the leisure centres at Sittingbourne and Sheppey and the indoor pools at Faversham, while the new operator will run them day-to-day on its behalf.
The outdoor pools at Faversham will continue to be owned by a charitable trust with a long lease back to the council and operated by the new operator.
This approach will reduce the council's running costs, free up money to fund community health workers, and unlock additional funding to modernise the buildings.
Mike Ellsmore, Co-Chair of Faversham Pools, added:
“We are pleased that our work with Swale Borough Council over the last two years is producing a successful outcome.
“Faced with ever increasing financial challenges, the Board of Trustees at Faversham took the decision to agree to partner with the council to secure the long-term future of swimming in Faversham. This will also bring capital investment into the Pools.
“We are also in the process of establishing a Friends of the Pools charitable organisation which will forge a positive relationship with Everyone Active and can look forward with great optimism for the future provision of swimming in Faversham.”
