Gym owner fined £1,000 for flouting Covid rules
AGYM owner has been fined £1,000 for opening in lockdown over Christmas. Nick Newton, who runs Nick’s Gym in Llandrindod Wells, said he made the decision to keep the gym open despite the latest lockdown in a bid to “try and survive” and to support members who were struggling with their mental health.
On Christmas Eve, the 41-year-old was handed a £1,000 fine from Powys Council for breaching the current restrictions which state that gyms in Wales must stay closed.
But Mr Newton said he has been overwhelmed after members raised enough money on GoFundMe to pay for it.
First Minister Mark Drakeford announced on December 19 that Wales would go into lockdown from midnight that day as coronavirus cases soared, fuelled in part by a new strain of the virus. It meant all non-essential retail, as well as gyms and leisure centres, would have to close almost immediately. Stay-at-home restrictions were also brought in with almost immediate effect.
Announcing the rules, Mr Drakeford said: “The situation is incredibly serious. I cannot overstate this. Our economy will recover. Christmas will come again. But lives which are lost, are lost for ever.”
But Mr Newton said he has “no regrets” over staying open.
He said: “I was at home doing Christmas things with my family when I got a call from the lady in the next door building.
“She told me they had gained access to the gym area so I came down and was met by three officers from the county council and some police officers.
“They started questioning me and saying ‘we know what’s going on’ and asking if we use track and trace, which we do. I explained that the lockdown is killing local businesses and that we are staying open to try and survive.
“The mental health of my members was affected last time and people were desperate to come back to the gym. You could see the relief when we were back open. I signed people up as volunteers at the gym so that they could come and use it.”
Mr Newton, who has run the gym for eight years, said only “three or four” people were allowed in to use the gym at any one time. He added: “We went
down that route because of the mental health of the members. They’ve taken away the ability to see family at this time of year.
“It was only four members at a time so it was probably easier to social distance than when we were fully open. I think gyms should have been left open. I thought it was more important to take the risk than it was to follow the guidelines. I don’t regret it at all.”
Within hours of receiving the fine Mr Newton set up a fundraising page to try to raise enough to be able to pay it off. He described the support from members, along with the local community, as “amazing”.
Mr Newton said: “We had the £1,000 raised in 12 hours. It got really good traction. It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling to know that many people had supported it and I’ve had lots of messages from people. It was a very Christmassy feeling that the community got behind it.
“It just goes to show how much the gyms mean to the community. I’ve had a huge amount of support from the community. I think they were just thankful that they were able to continue their training. We are hoping that gyms will get that essential status.”
Dyfed-Powys Police and Powys council were approached for comment.