A trio of eighties pop sensations are joining forces for the first of a series of concerts to be held at Inverness Leisure Centre.

Rick Astley will be joined by Katrina (of the Waves) and The Real Thing on Saturday 9 November, as part of Live in the City, a number of shows being held at the leisure venue. This is the first time Inverness Leisure Centre has hosted a music event.

The eighties nostalgic night will feature a range of hits which first hit the charts over 20 years ago. Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ hit, which was number one in 25 countries, is sure to get the crowd on their feet, while soul group, The Real Thing, will perform its internationally acclaimed track ‘You to Me Are Everything’.

Rick Astley said:

“Performing to a Scottish crowd is always special. I’m really excited to be coming to Inverness and will put on a great show for fans.”

James Martin, Chief Executive of Inverness Leisure Centre, said:

“To be branching into the music scene is an exciting opportunity for Inverness Leisure and one we hope to build on in the future. Working with LCC Live, another Inverness-based and like-minded company, will ensure we deliver a night to remember for local music fans.”

Live in the City (www.liveinthecity.org.uk) is a series of limited, capacity events being held at Inverness Leisure Centre, Bught Lane, Inverness.

Les Kidger, Director of LCC Live, said:

“Live in the City aims to bring a range of performers to Inverness over the course of the year. We’re delighted to have confirmed Rick Astley, Katrina and The Real Thing for the inaugural concert and look forward to working with Inverness Leisure Centre to deliver a memorable night of eighties hits.”

Tickets go on sale on Friday 5 April 2013 priced £29.50 and are available online at www.ticketline.co.uk; by phone 0844 888 9991 or in person from Caffreys Menswear, Union Street, Inverness.

Roz Maclean, Catering Officer shows of the new ‘Bite Bistro’ logo which will be used throughout the centre

Roz Maclean is the newest member to join the team at Inverness Leisure having recently been appointed to drive the new catering venture forward in time for opening later this summer.

Although originally from Inverness Roz has spent the last 25 years working in catering and hospitality all over the country including Perth, Stirling and Edinburgh. Working for 12 years with John Lewis in Edinburgh where she managed a team of over 100 staff who serviced three customer areas as well as the staff facilities for the 900 John Lewis employees.

Speaking about the new service at Inverness Leisure Ms Maclean said, “I am really excited to be joining the team at Inverness Leisure. However, perhaps even more exciting is being able to formally announce the launch of ‘Bite Bistro’ at Inverness Leisure which we are looking to be open this summer.

“We were really keen that our catering facilities should have their own identity within the leisure centre and wanted something short and snappy that was also really descriptive.

“We invited suggestions from some of our internal staff and we were really struck when Jemma Vinnicombe, assistant to our senior management team came up with the suggestion ‘Bite’.

Roz went on, “We were looking for the new area to be much more than a café favouring a bistro type set up; so when we started to think about it ‘bite’ and ‘bistro’ came together so easily to give us ‘Bite Bistro’. And once we had worked up some designs we just knew it was an identity that was going to work.

Roz Maclean with Jemma Vinnicombe, Assistant to the Senior Management Team who came up with the name “Bite”

Speaking about the concept, the new Catering Officer explained, “I am currently working to finalise opening hours, menus and suppliers. However my key priority has been to work with the Chief Executive and the Board Sub-Committee to start the process of refurbishing the area to give it a whole new ‘Bite Bistro’ feel.

“From the refurbishment designs we have had done, I am absolutely positive that when our customers return to the re-opened Bistro that they will be just as excited and delighted about the project as we all are.

“My next big task ahead is to start the recruitment process for appointing our catering assistants who will be joining the ‘Bite Bistro’ team as well as working with the Calman Trust to be able to assist and support some of the young adults they work with back into employment by offering them work and placements at the Bistro.

Summing up her first few weeks with Inverness Leisure, Roz commented, “I am really pleased to have relocated to the Highlands to join such a forward thinking business with a really customer focussed team committed to offering high standards of service. I only hope that I can bring something to the party and make ‘Bite Bistro’ just as popular as the other areas around the centre.”

James Martin, Chief Executive at the centre said, “The Board and I are absolutely delighted to have been able to appoint someone of Roz’s calibre to the Company. Her passion and enthusiasm has been amazing over the first few weeks she has been with us and I can only presume that this will be passed on to her own team and in turn the many customers that we hope will be using the Bistro.”

This Tuesday (19^th) will see the new Customer Forum at Inverness Leisure meet for the first time when a group of volunteer users of the facility come together with the centre’s senior management to discuss ways the facilities could be improved from a customer perspective.

However, at the end of the meeting both the Company’s Chief Executive and Head of Operations will be available for their new “Management Surgeries” between 7 & 8pm to meet on a one-to-one basis with any customers who may have issues they would wish dealt with at a more senior level.

Speaking about the new system, Chief Executive James Martin said, “We have always been keen to hear from our customers about the services and activities we offer. We are really confident that the new Customer Forum and Management Surgeries are just the latest initiatives that will allow us to achieve new information.

Explaining how the new surgeries will work, Mr Martin explained, “Customers can turn up any time between 7 & 8pm on Tuesday to the Alex Sutherland room at Inverness Leisure to meet with either myself of Craig Steedman to discuss any matters they may want us to look into.

“Customers are welcome to come along to discuss points on both a positive and negative situation as well as offer suggestions which they think may improve the overall running of Inverness Leisure.

“We also asked for a number of mystery customers and we have been really pleased with the level of interest received from people who are willing to help out on a completely voluntary basis.

“Those who have already applied to become mystery customers should be hearing from us shortly after the customer forum for their first “mission”. But there is still plenty of time to apply should anyone wish to take part in driving Inverness Leisure further forward. This can be done by visiting our website at www.invernessleisure.co.uk/mystery-customers.

Concluding the Chief Executive also said, “We are all really excited about the new initiative and hope to get some really good quality feedback from our customer over the forthcoming weeks and months ahead.”

Caledonia Community Leisure Limited, the Company which trades as “Inverness Leisure” is seeking a new Community Business Trustee to join their board when the current member Jim Cockburn retires from the Company in the summer.

Jim Cockburn, retiring from the Board this summer.

The Board at Inverness Leisure has 12 Trustees equally distributed between three groups namely; User Trustees, Councillor Trustees and Community Business Trustees. The Board also invites four Associate (staff) advisors onto the Board who are appointed from throughout the multi-award winning centre by their peers.

The non-executive vacancy that will shortly arise falls within the Community Business group. Trustees in this section must have successfully owned and operated their own business or have held a senior position in a large business or organisation.

Trustees are elected on to the Board for a period of three years and will also be entitled to seek re-election a further twice if they choose to do so.

The Board members work closely with the Chief Executive and Senior Management Team to create and deliver the overall strategy to secure Inverness Leisure’s future going forward.

Company Chair Ella MacRae said, “The vacancy offers a community minded individual the opportunity to become involved in shaping and developing the future of one of the Highlands’ venues.

“We have an excellent Board who all work very well in order to ensure that we secure Inverness Leisure’s status as a premier sport and recreational provider not only in the Highlands but also in Scotland.  We therefore look forward to finding an individual who is keen to become part of this.”

For further information on the vacancy, interested parties should visit the Company’s website or contact James Martin, Chief Executive, at Inverness Leisure on 01463 667520.

After being in existence for over 10 years it has been decided to wind-up the existing User Group at Inverness Leisure to be replaced by volunteer mystery customers, a customer forum and one-to-one surgeries with Senior Management.

The User Group at Inverness Leisure was made up of members of the public who met on a bi-monthly basis with management to discuss operational issues about the centre and to offer advice and guidance from a customer-perspective. But regretfully membership of the group has declined over the last couple of years.

However despite a substantial campaign by both management and current user group members over the last couple of years to attract new blood to the group no new members have been identified.

For this reason the Board and Management at Inverness Leisure decided to wind-up the existing group and replace it by a new Customer Forum, which will now be chaired by the Company’s General Manager, James Martin.

Speaking about the changes Mr Martin said, “The existing Chair and other members have tried really hard to generate new interest but unfortunately it hasn’t proved fruitful. It is obviously disappointing that the membership of the User Group dwindled, but sometimes after over ten years it just happens to be that something has served its purpose and come to a natural end of its purpose and it is certainly no reflection on the few people who have remained committed to the end.

“It is obviously still very important to us to have some level of liaison with our customers, so we felt we couldn’t just end the User Group without replacing it with something else.

“For this reason the new customer forum has been created. Meetings will take place every two months where individuals, clubs, groups and other interested parties will be invited to become involved to look at issues affecting the centre as a whole.

He went on, “The customer forum will be a short, sharp focused meeting looking at the wider issues. However we are aware that customer may want to take up issues on an individual basis, so after every meeting both Craig Steedman, my Head of Operations and I will be available to meet with customers on a one-to-one basis in a kind of ‘surgery’ set up.

“One of the other areas that the User Group helped out with was undertaking regular un-announced facility spot audits. These were obviously extremely beneficial and both kept the team on their toes as well as offering some high quality feedback at the end of the visit to our Operations management.

“We have decided to also change the format of the auditing and will shortly be looking to recruit a number of voluntary ‘mystery customers’ who would be willing to come along to the centre anonymously and then undertake a similarly nameless online survey about the various aspects of their own or their families visit to the centre.

“This way we can get a much greater cross-section of our customers feeding back to us as well as being able to focus on very key issues at particular times of the year. The results of the surveys will be viewed and audited by the customer forum members Board members and management.

“If anyone is interested in becoming a mystery visitor to Inverness Leisure then they should keep an eye on the centre’s Facebook page and website for the invitation to take part.”

Speaking about the imminent changes, current User Group representative on the Board of Trustees Anne Eames said, “We are all really excited about the upcoming changes which centre around the introduction of the new Customer Forum, the Senior Team Surgeries and the new Mystery Visitors.

“Although I am a Board member, I am also a very regular user of the centre myself so I can see things from both angles.  It is so important that our hundreds of thousands of customers have a voice and feel they have a link with the Board and management. And this is what we are trying to achieve with the new initiative.

Mrs Eames, who will become the new Customer Forum representative on the Board concluded, “The User Group has played a really important role in the changes and improvements at Inverness Leisure and I have no reason to doubt the new scheme will not see us through the next phase in our development.”

With invitations being sent out from the General Manager over the next few weeks inviting Clubs and individuals to join, it is hoped that the first Customer Forum meeting will take place early in the New Year.

With the clocks changing at the weekend and the dark nights now upon us, for many this means only one thing…BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing is back on our screens.

Instructor Tristian Hill partnered with Group Fitness Coordinator Kirsty Chisholm getting ready for the new class. Also pictured Dennis McRae and Brenda Cheadle (left) and James Martin, General Manager and Christina Carr

Thanks to the show, dancing has now become very fashionable again with Strictly fever enticing everyone to try dancing around this time of the year in the same way that every summer tennis courts are full due to the Wimbledon effect.

For this reason, the fitness Team at Inverness Leisure have decided to make something of it this year and have managed to secure the champion dance instructor Tristian Hill from to offer a 4-week block of dance lessons to the centre’s TOFFS (The over fifties fitness session).

Speaking about the new session, Kirsty Chisholm who is responsible for the 110+ studio classes at the Bught lane facility said, “Our 50+ market is huge for us and we have a great bunch of regulars who faithfully turn up for 3 hours on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning every week.

“Keeping active is so important at all stages in your life, but it becomes particular more so when you start to get into your 50’s. Only this week a medical research programme from Edinburgh University has shown that regular exercise can prevent the brain from deteriorating and showing signs of dementia in more mature people.

“Therefore since taking over the Group Fitness role I have been looking for something slightly different to offer our TOFFS to keep the programme fresh which will hopefully encourage more people in this age group to come along and exercise.”

Well-known local Dance Instructor Tristian Hill has been responsible for bringing some of the BBC shows biggest stars to dance in the Highlands and he will do so again next year when Kristina Rihanoff and Robin Windsor, two of this year’s competitors will give an exhibition evening in Inverness in August.

Speaking about his latest performance at Inverness Leisure, Tristian added, “Everyone knows that dancing is fantastic exercise. You only need to listen to the comments of many of the celebrities on Strictly who say how much weight they have lost and how much fitter they feel.

“But another aspect of dancing that many people over look is the fantastic social aspects that it offers those taking part. And this is something that is really important in this age group – so I think the fact that Inverness Leisure is looking to introduce ballroom and Latin dance on a trial basis is really great.

“Over and above the general fitness dancing is really positive for posture, stamina and memory as dancers remember the steps and moves they have previously been taught.

Speaking about what the TOFFS can expect, Tristian went on, “We will be offering those taking part a chance to learn a full dance over a four week period.  I understand that many of the TOFFS will have been of the ballroom generation and may actually be able to teach me a thing or two. So I am really looking forward to working with them and perhaps letting them re-live a little bit of their past.”

The first TOFFS Ballroom session (which will be free to High Life cardholders) takes place at 11am next Monday and anyone wanting to take part can simply come along and join in.

Concluding, Kirsty Chisholm said, “We’ll have a look at Tristain’s trial session and see how well it has gone down. That way we can actually consider making Ballroom and Latin Dance a part of our regular studio programme.

“For this to happen, all we need is for people to ‘keeeeeeep dancing’!”