Glasgow Life is the charity people in Glasgow engage with most often in their daily lives, and the community campaigns which have been taking place across the city throughout the pandemic and during the reopening of venues have demonstrated just how vested people are in their local services.

And with good reason: the charity provides an exceptional quality of service to citizens, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the facilities operated as part of our sport offering.

Glasgow Sport operates the most extensive leisure operation in the country, with 21 gyms in world-class venues such as Emirates Arena and Kevin Hall, and 12 pools in international competition venues like Tollcross International Swimming Centre. Before Covid-19, these venues regularly hosted major events such as the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships, and the 2019 LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships, events which we were immensely proud to welcome to our city.

But, most importantly, these facilities are owned by the people of Glasgow. It’s Glaswegians who spend the most time on the track in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, or swimming lengths in the Olympic-size pool in Tollcross.

The last ‘normal’ year we had, from April 2019 until March 2020, was a fantastic year for Glasgow Sport.

Within Glasgow Club, more than 6.6million attendances were recorded for the eighth successive year, and direct-debit membership ended the year at a record high of 48,600 – an increase of almost 7% from the year before. We also saw a 44% increase in the number of FitClubJNR memberships, a specially programmed membership for 12 and 13 year olds.

Our gyms offer top-of-the-range equipment and facilities which rival private gyms, and at a fraction of the cost.

However, for our members, it’s about so much more than just a fitness membership. When you join, you become part of the club. Our friendly venues are home to a dedicated team of gym instructors developing free personalised fitness programmes for each member, supporting them to achieve their short-term and long-term goals. We pride ourselves on having the friendliest staff and instructors: people who want to help make a difference to the lives of those in our city.

When you visit one of our Glasgow Club venues, it’s not difficult to see why local communities want to keep these venues open and operating at full capacity.

Outwith the gym, the work Glasgow Sport carries out across the city, and the support given to local community organisations is just as vitally important, with the number of people taking part in any form of sport or physical activity sitting at an all-time high before Covid-19.

Taking cycling as an example, a sport which enjoyed a renaissance during lockdown across the country, Glasgow Sport supports numerous programmes which allow people to learn how to ride for the first time (no matter what age), to rediscover the joy of riding a bike, or just to help people feel more confident riding on the city’s roads and pathways.

In the short windows of opportunity last year, a ‘Veloschool’ partnership programme with Bike For Good and Glasgow’s Go Ride coaches delivered an accredited City and Guilds qualification to disengaged secondary school pupils. It taught extensive bike maintenance skills and on and off road cycling training, with pupils receiving free sessions on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Glasgow BMX Centre, and The Loading Bay. Impressively, given the short timeframes available to work in, the team was able to deliver more than 200 sessions across the city, reaching 2,800 participants.

Together with sportscotland, we support 19 Community Sports Hubs (CSH) across the city, totalling more than 10,000 members. In 2019 we launched the CSH Changing Lives Through Active Communities 2019-2023 Strategy which brings together key partners to help Glasgow’s citizens get more active, more often.

Our city-wide Learn to Swim programme delivered over 330,000 sessions in 2019/20 and has previously been recognised by Scottish Swimming as an outstanding programme.

Partnerships between Glasgow Life and local organisations are key to making sport more accessible and creating opportunities for everyone, particularly young people. Reinforcing the benefits of physical activity from a young age not only helps tackle the complex health issues caused by childhood obesity, but also creates a behaviour change which is then carried into adult life.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we know from our own studies and research that the sports sector in Glasgow supports about 10,000 jobs, and contributes an incredible £370million to the city’s economy every year.

Glasgow needs a fair deal to continue to prioritise sport services not only for the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our population, but for the best chance of recovery of our incredible sporting city.

Billy Garrett is director of sport and events at Glasgow Life

The Herald is backing the Fair Deal for Glasgow campaign for a new funding deal for the city’s culture and leisure services. We want to to see a commitment from both Scottish and UK governments to work with the city to achieve this, and to fund Glasgow’s cultural assets and collections of national and international significance at national level