The top-up will extend current annual memberships until September 2021.
UofG Sport have recently announced that they have started providing £50 top-ups for people who had bought annual memberships before lockdown. This allows them to cover the entire academic year, meaning students do not have to renew their memberships for another 12 months.
Currently, year-long memberships that were previously frozen will now last up until 19 March 2021, though by applying for this extension members can use the University’s sporting facilities up until 30 September 2021 instead.
Shortly before the full-nationwide lockdown was announced back in March this year, all UofG Sport memberships were frozen as all sporting facilities were forced to close. These memberships were only recently fully unfrozen again following the reopening of the Stevenson Building on 2 September, and were extended to cover the time lost to the lockdown.
Memberships with UofG Sport allow people to access all amenities provided in the University’s Stevenson Building, including access to the site’s various cardio, bodybuilding, and cycling suites, swimming pool, sports halls, and fitness classes.
Specific memberships also cover usage of the University’s Garscube Sport Complex, which holds a range of indoor and outdoor facilities. Garscube was partially reopened earlier in August to allow for outdoor usage to resume.
Speaking with The Glasgow Guardian, president of the Glasgow University Sports Association (GUSA), Shereif Kholeif, stated: “GUSA working in partnership with UofG Sport recognises how difficult the year has been for our students and how brilliantly everyone is dealing with this unique situation. All of our sport facilities and events stopped in March in line with government guidance.
“We have recently been able to get sports going again with Garscube opening in August for outdoor training and the gym facilities opening in September.
“This closure resulted in our student members missing out on five and a half months of their memberships. The university took the decision to carry this into the 20/21 academic year meaning everyone who is returning to the university can start using their membership again.
“We understand that the extension does not equate to a full years membership for our students, so we have created a reduced fee top up option to make the memberships last until the end of the year as is normal.
“Whilst Covid may have slowed things down for GUSA in lockdown, it certainly did not stop sporting activity entirely. It was amazing to see all of our sports clubs continue to engage with their members through online fitness classes, challenges, socials and fundraising for the many charities in need. However, now it’s time for our virtual community to begin to filter back on the pitch, field, pool or court and we will do everything we can to facilitate a safe transition back into sport for students.”
This top-up offer will only be available to students until 31 October 2020, and can be completed online through membership profiles, which can be found on their website.
For those interested in learning more about how the University’s sports facilities will operate with relation to Covid-19, UofG Sport have provided a webpage, dedicated to answering any questions members may have about the facilities reopening. The page also includes information about specific documentation required for a member’s first visit since reopening.
