Since the beginning of December, the Gym at Artisan Square has been open every day from 6am to 10pm and owner Fawn Gill says the experiment in this new operating method has been such a success that it is here to stay.
There are a few things that make these longer hours possible:
1. Members get a special four-digit pin that allows them into the Gym during unstaffed hours.
2. Non-members can enter, with a fee, during unstaffed hours.
3. Members have to take extra responsibility for their health and safety during non-staffed hours, and also clean up after themselves and put all equipment away.
Gill says she needed to move to a system like this because she was getting burnt out by being on call every time one of her volunteer staff wasn't able to make it. She also wanted to offer people more flexibility for their work-outs.
"There are people on this island whose lives have been saved by working out, so on a certain level I really see making it easy for people as a community service."
Gill says that so far she's received positive feedback from members and more people are working out on a daily basis. A few new have also joined up.
"People are looking after the gym," says Gill, "and they're looking after each other."
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)