Forest Hill Pools Gym Locker Thefts

Keys, cards and money were stolen from my locker in Forest Hill Pools this afternoon. The thief managed to pull out my small rucksack from a gap in the locker even though the door was padlocked.

How awful for you. What response did you get from the staff there?

They were conerned and Incident report filled out.

So sorry to hear that has happened to you- not nice at all. This also happened to my partner last year and someone broke the padlock and took everything. Forest hill pools said no CCTV covered the lockers which is frustrating. Hope you get a better response!

I am sorry to hear about this.

Did this happen with the first floor lockers? There is a thread on the SE23 Mums Facebook group about recent locker thefts at the pools. You might like to have a look.

Update in today’s local press:

A pool attendant told my wife this morning that the thieves come in equipped with special tools to pick the locks. Perhaps they can act very quickly, looking like regular customers, and this is why nobody has seen them at it.

My gym changed to customer-owned padlocks for the lockers instead of keys for this very reason.

‘Special tools’ also known as a master key.

I’ve not been to Forest Hill pools, but assume the lockers haven’t changed in the 6 years they have been there. So at this point it’s reasonable to assume the master key has been bought/stolen/copied, or the locks are easily circumvented with a simple tool (pen knife, credit card etc…).

The only reasonable courses of action are for Forest Hill Pools to change all the locks, or to implement additional security such as a warden or security guard. There’s obviously cost associated with those steps.

I like @RachaelDunlop’s idea of taking your own locks - there’s some security in diversity, though I imagine it’s a pain for staff to deal with lost keys or forgotten combinations, as well as people arriving without a suitable lock. There’s probably a fair few combinations set to 0000, or 007 as well, though checking multiple locks is a bit more ballsy than just rocking up with a master key.

The OP seems to describe a theft from a locker locked with a padlock. I was surprised to learn that there are such lockers at FH pools - in the gym area (which I don’t use)?

Hello All,

We are terribly sorry about recent events at Forest Hill Pool, and have spoken to the Police and councillors about this issue and rest assured we take this very seriously. We like yourselves are saddened at the thefts as we want our venue to be a safe and enjoyable space for all our customers.

We would like to extend an invitation for you to come along and meet the manager on Thursday 11th October at 6pm at Forest Hill Pool.

We look forward to meeting with you all.

Got a mate who goes to one of those expensive Virgin gyms. Same thing. The lockers get raided. Happens everywhere and somehow they manage to do it without anyone noticing.

Another way would be to not take your phone, just enough money to pay for a swim etc, & fix your keys on your person! That would give the the thieves a shock!

The problems at the pool are greater than the thefts and I think it would be worth putting together a list of ongoing issues for the public meeting. The thefts are clearly very serious and reduce confidence so must also mean the numbers going are down. Which in turn means they will have even less income to manage the centre well. Although having said that I hear they were turning people away on Saturday afternoon - not sure if that was lifeguard related (see below).

So, in order to try and get the pools working better I would like to think the local community can help put together a list of ongoing issues and be part of trying to help resolve them.

My bugbear, which happened again today was when they don’t have enough lifeguards to operate the pool to the timetable. This morning they has one lifeguard (well the manager actually) on duty as one or more of the lifeguards was ill. This means the main pool can only be Lane swimming and not the advertised family swim, only half the small pool was available (and I’m not sure if that was because of lifeguard issues or was lesson related). They were expecting more lifeguards in at 11am when they hoped things could return to normal.

So, at 9.30 this morning the reception area was packed, lots of small children. The staff didn’t seem to know how many tickets they could sell for which pool, whether older children were allowed to swim in lanes (they are if they can competently swim lanes) or what was going on. They were clearly stressed and had that frame of mind where ‘it’s not my fault’ which I am afraid just says to me that they are as pissed of with the badly organised situation as I was.

I had checked the pools website before I left home to check if any issues and none were indicated. There were signs on the reception desk saying that the main pool would be Lane only until 11am but we were there by then and although my 11year old can swim lanes that wasn’t what we’d gone for.

This lack of lifeguards seems to happen pretty much every time I try to go swimming on a Sunday. It really isn’t a one off problem. It’s clearly more systemic, indicates wider organisational issues to me, and needs more than just a weak apology each time it happens.

What I’d like to know, and I will ask Lewisham about this, is what performance standards Fusion are expected to meet around the pools being open, staff training, customer service and the provision of up to date information on the website.

Other concerns include cleanliness, although that seemed okay today.

Anything else?

Routinely running out of blue shoe covers on a Saturday morning. Whenever I tell them they’re out of stock, they’re always surprised. I’m not.

I gave up on FHP and any fusion run gym for the reasons listed by Sachers.
I felt the pool was badly monitored by the lifeguards (I speak as an unconfident newly learned to swim middle aged lady), older kids often jumping and diving into the non lane swimming area (which I like due to being a slow and hesitant swimmer) when I understand diving and boystousness is not allowed in public pools for safety issues.
Classes I wished to attend were often cancelled without warning, and the FILTH!!! the toilets poolside were gross and the changing rooms too.
front desk was shambolic and badly run.
I therefore pay more and go elsewhere.
FHP chronic mis management and lack of investment has been an issue for me since they opened.
Until fusion lose the contract with Lewisham (as they seem to have elsewhere) I doubt things will improve.

Hello We do have a Lifeguard course running next month starting on the 9th October at Forest Hill Pool. If you know anyone interested in becoming a lifeguard, then let us know

It would be interesting to know why. Perhaps they were checking whether people walking in, actually have valid passes?

I understand the pool was at capacity. I don’t know if that was normal lifeguard level capacity or a reduced capacity?

Hi @FusionLewisham, have you ever considered employing an extra lifeguard for days when there is a regular pattern of illness/absence? It could be a ‘pool’ pool lifeguard across your Lewisham facilities and they go as an extra to the busiest one until they work out where they are needed most.

Good to know you are looking for extra or new lifeguards.

I’m an existing member of FH Pools. My main grievance is about the shower facilities in the men’s (first floor) changing rooms and their cleanliness. The showers in the swimming pool area seem to work fine so I don’t understand why for the 3 years I’ve been going to FH Pools the men’s showers are so pathetic (low water pressure, water spraying in random directions except where it’s supposed to etc.). The situation is compounded by the fact they are often pretty filthy and smell unpleasant.

In defence of the staff I will say that their lives are not made easy by the way some people treat the facilities - in particular the disposal of nappies (or failure to dispose of them) seems to be beyond some parents and at weekends in particular children seem to be just left to run around the complex without supervision.

Thank you for your suggestion and this is something that is given consideration, feel free to bring points like this along to the meeting next month. Forest Hill Pool is unique in the borough, as the majority of staff employed can work across several areas of the building. So we do move people around as and where operational needs require us to do so. Unfortunately if people (or several people) call in sick before their shift(s), then this does put us on the back foot for the rest of the day. For which we apologise for the inconvenience caused

If anyone is at the Meet the Manager event which is happening this evening, I’d love to know what’s said. Had hoped to be there myself but can’t make it. Thanks.

I’m there so I’ll provide updates.

Meeting hosted by Lance Codling, General Manager (since feb18). He has been at the pools in FH since before it opened.

Last locker theft was on 7th Sept. Culprit was identified, there is CCTV and police are involved. All centre staff are aware. Mostly it was phones and wallets being stolen. One car. Lockers broken into by being forced. No evidence it was through a master key.

They have put security lockers opposite the reception desk. Also changing some lockers to padlocks. Changes have been made to the turnstiles so they can’t be left open.

Cleanliness - cleaners have changed. Things do seem to be better.

Not being able to rely on the pool timetable - they acknowledged problems with lifeguards calling in sick. Shortage of lifeguards, constant advert. We talked about some strategies that might make this happen less often. Discussed that cost of lifeguard course is quite high (£200+) although the current course is full.

Repairs and maintenance - these are getting done but sometimes take time. Do give feedback.

Gym equipment - they have been getting new service contracts. Do make sure that you let the staff know each time you encounter a problem.

Feedback - Please tell us what you think on website or cards by reception. This goes through to Lance.

Regular forum - dates are on the Noticeboard

Generally positive!

Lance would love people to attend his public meetings!

Same here. Better are better .

Thanks, Satchers, very interesting and encouraging. I love the pools and find the staff very helpful. The new lockers in the reception area are a great idea.

Thanks for taking the time to summarise Hilary - really helpful!

My rucksack was stolen from my locker on September 10th and it was reported to the staff and management. i.e. A theft after 7th September.
Mark

I’m not a member as reviews on here have turned me off.

If there is a chance though someone might suggest the manager offer a few evening meet sessions.

I’m not a member but tonight’s meeting was at 6pm and open to anyone. I suggest the best way to meet the manager is to ask via the website. He said his door was always open!

One of the other attendees has emailed the manager back this evening to ask why he told us the last theft was the 7th.

Thank you for your attendance last night and taking these notes. We are glad that you found it useful and positive. We will look into the incident on the 10th. As you have stated, everyone is welcome to leave feedback and arrange a time to meet the manager member or not. The centre is open to all members of the public so it doesn’t matter if you are a member or not. We look forward to working with you all going forward

Dear @FusionLewisham, I’ve also seen other reports of locker break ins on other sites that those involved say management know about and since 10/9. Not really very satisfactory.