6th November 2019 | Portsmouth

Manager’s Welcome

The clocks have changed and the cold, dark nights are upon us. However your Roko club has some solutions for you; warm up in our Bistro with a Christmas specialty Costa drink, join in a group exercise class or try out a different piece of equipment in the gym with the help of one of our expert personal trainers. Remember, November is the month to actively look for reasons to get down to the gym rather than be tempted to stay in!

Last month we saw the return of our quiz nights, with the first quiz of the winter season taking place on the 24th October. Thank you to all those who attended and helped us raise £416 in the raffle for our nominated charity “The Rainbow Centre”. We also had our annual kid's halloween party on the 31st October with spooktacular games and disco, thank you to all the parents and children who attended this and hopefully see you again next year.

This month we've had 2 new staff members start with the club;  Martin Bulman in operations (he will be looking after the cleaning team and the facilities) and Sam Barnett as group exercise co-ordinator (looking after our class timetables). I wish them both a warm Roko welcome and if any members would like to speak to them regarding the club they are both welcoming all forms of feedback.

On to this month. We will be having a charity spin day for Children In Need in our reception area, where we will be having the Roko Team, with the help of some member volunteers, continuously riding throughout the day. (Look out for me joining in also).  Alongside this there will be other activities and charity classes running throughout the day to support this great cause. Make sure you come down to the club on Friday 15th Nov to cheer us on.

Again a thank you to all members who have completed our member survey. We will continue to send these out randomly to members; please let us know what you like about the club when filling it in so we can make sure we continue to do things at the club that members enjoy.

Health and regards,

James Sandercock and your Roko Portsmouth Team

app improvements to class waiting lists

Great news - when you use the app to book classes, we have added an automatic online booking function to our waiting list emails!

When a class becomes available that you are on the waiting list for, you can now simply click the "book now" button on the waiting list alert email and it will automatically book you onto that class if there is still availability.

We hope you find this new functionality helpful.

Fitness News

New Group Fitness Timetable
We are starting to look at our group exercise timetable for next year and currently reviewing all the classes for attendance and popularity levels. Please make sure that you are booking in for classes and turning up for them as we will be basing a lot of the decisions on this information.  Likewise, if you have any requests for new classes, please fill in a comment card at reception and mark for the attention of Sam Barnett so they can be considered during the planning.  

Currently, Grit and Tone are on the watch list as we are seeing numbers dramatically reducing for these classes and we may look to remove them from the timetable to try out some different classes instead, or even put on more of the popular classes where there is demand as shown by waiting lists.

Christmas Class Timetable
We will be reducing the class timetable over the Christmas period to match our opening hours so please keep an eye out at reception for updates. We will also be running some special Christmas themed classes - more information in next month’s newsletter.

Late Cancellations & No Shows For Classes
We know that occasionally life gets busy and we appreciate that cancelling classes or showing up to them may not be top of your list. However, due to an increase in late cancellations and no shows, we will now temporarily revoke members booking facilities for 14 days if they consistently fail to attend without adequate notice. 

For reference, the cut off time for late cancellations is 2 hours from class start times and members who cancel inside this time will be considered to have not provided the club with the required notice.

We understand that it can be frustrating when you are unable to book your favourite class and we hope that by applying this procedure it will encourage members to cancel with as much notice as possible so that others can enjoy and experience their classes. 

Club Lounge

Christmas Costa Drinks
We have speciality hot drinks running until January so make sure you give them a try! 

New drinks on the menu will include the non-alcoholic Irish Velvet coffee, latte and hot chocolate – which all have hints of caramel and vanilla. There’s a new festive spiced cappuccino on the menu also.

Optimum Nutrition

You may be aware of our great range of protein bars and drinks, however did you know that we have recently introduced a whole new range? We are proud to now be selling not only shakes and bars by Nutramino, but have now included a brand new range of products from Optimum Nutrition.
These products all have a high protein content and offer a fantastic taste at the same time. So whether you are looking for a great snack post-workout, or need to get that extra protein in between meals, head over to our vending machine and take a look at our brand new range. Enjoy!  Watch out for our free taster sessions happening in the gym over the next month.

Save the Planet and Save Money Too
Save some money off your next hot drink and also help save the environment.  We will now be offering a discount on all hot drinks if a member uses their own re-usable takeaway cup.  We have also sourced some great Roko branded cups if you haven’t already got one which, when purchased from the club lounge, includes your first hot drink in it on us!

Special Offer for Members on Function Room Hire

Book your function with us here this month for any date in 2019 and get a free bottle of bubbly to enjoy at your function.

Give us a call on 02392 651 400 and ask to speak to our function co-ordinator  Lacey Ryan or alternatively ask at reception on your next visit to the club.

Swimming News

Swim by DD
We are pleased to announce that we offer the option to pay for your group swimming lessons by direct debit. This way you can spread the cost of the lessons and avoid the stress of re-booking term by term. Sign up for next term now via DD.

Adult Swimming Lessons 
Have you ever wanted to learn front crawl but not known where to begin?  Can you swim a strong breaststroke but would like to learn a new stroke? Can you swim front crawl but would like to advance your techniques for a triathlon? Well Roko Portsmouth offers these types of courses for adults all the year through. If you would like to enquire when the next course is on or would like more information or to BOOK your swimming lessons today: call the club on 02392 651 400.