RESIDENTS can use book delivery and online workout services while libraries and leisure centres are closed, the council says.
St Helens Library Service and Go Active members are reminded of the offers available to them despite facilities having to close as part of the government national lockdown coronavirus measures.
Go Active Members who pay via a monthly direct debit will have their payments due on December 1, 2020 frozen. Annual memberships will also be extended to reflect the time lost due to the closure.
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Recognising the positive impact reading and living an active lifestyle has on mental health – St Helens Borough Council is encouraging residents to make the most of services still available to them – from library books straight to their door, to online workouts delivered by qualified fitness instructors.
During lockdown, the council’s award-winning library service will be offering:
- Home Delivery Service – which allows residents signed up to the service to enjoy up to 20 books or audio books over a six-week period.
- Click and collect – giving the option to reserve up to six books for free to collect from Chester Lane, Eccleston and Newton-le-Willows libraries – https://sthlibrarieswp.koha-ptfs.co.uk/
- 24/7 digital services – including e-books, e-audiobooks, e-magazines and e-comics, using their library card. For more information visit https://sthlibrarieswp.koha-ptfs.co.uk/
- Events and activities – Events including the Read and Rhyme Time sessions and tours of St Helens Archive can still be enjoyed virtually through St Helens Library Service’s Facebook page for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, Go Active – the council’s Health and Fitness provider – will be offering more than 80 one-to-one personal trainer sessions at Newton-le-Willows and Queens Park Health and Fitness, free for members or £5 for non-members.
Go Active’s online activity programme will be available again via Zoom and Facebook live, featuring classes such as yoga, inferno and Pilates – just search ‘GoActiveSTH’ on Facebook. Pre-recorded workouts will also be posted via Go Active’s YouTube channel.
Free workouts, suitable for all ages and abilities, are also available for residents to do from the comfort of their own home through St Helens Sports Development’s social media.
St Helens Council’s cabinet member for public health, leisure, libraries and heritage, Cllr Anthony Burns, said: “During the first national lockdown in March, and ever since, our fantastic library and leisure services have stepped up to the mark to try and keep spirits high by continuing to provide a quality offer and I’m delighted this will be the case again as we enter a second lockdown. We must do all we can to prevent the spread of the virus so we can get our rates down and get back to some sort of normality as soon as possible.
“I’d like to thank library and leisure service users for their cooperation during these turbulent times and would encourage them to continue to show the fantastic support they have shown by taking up these alternative offers until it is safe for us to welcome them back.”
Keep up to date with everything else St Helens Library Service has to offer – from quizzes, story time, and arts and crafts, and much more besides – by following their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
