The management of community access to secondary schools for non-sport lets is being transferred from the City of Edinburgh Council to Edinburgh Leisure.

A phased transfer, with nine schools initially identified, will mean that organisations and individuals looking to book and hire classroom space during community time for classes and workshops, will now book through Edinburgh Leisure, rather than the City of Edinburgh Council.

Core community times are Monday to Friday, 18:00 – 21:45hrs and Saturday, 09:30 – 15:15hrs whilst during school holiday periods around the opening times.  The schools available to book through Edinburgh Leisure are:

• Balerno High School.
• Broughton High School.
• Craigroyston High School.
• Forrester High School / St Augustine’s R.C. High School.
• Gracemount High School.
• Leith Academy.
• James Gillespie’s High School.
• Portobello High School.

Since 2017, Edinburgh Leisure has managed community access to secondary school sports facilities and through this period have developed a robust booking process and operational infrastructure that has seen usage and net income grow each year.

The investment made by the Council in its school estate over the last 15 years has resulted in fantastic facilities and the ambition for the transfer is to improve access arrangements and increase use from all sections of the community by utilising Edinburgh Leisure’s experience and expertise in this field.

Jimmy Livingstone, Schools Manager at Edinburgh Leisure said: “We have been working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council and with our expertise in the field of facility management and community access to the schools, we are the logical partner to manage the non-sport lets in secondary schools, to support the Council in improving access, increasing usage and maximising revenue.”

Cllr Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Having Edinburgh Leisure manage the non-sport lets in our secondary schools is a really positive move given their experience and expertise in managing community access across the city. It will further develop our partnership and improve access to the fantastic facilities we have available in our secondary school estate.”

All current lets at the above schools have been advised of the new booking arrangements. The booking process for schools not transferring to Edinburgh Leisure in phase one will remain the same.

The booking system will go live from 13th November 2023 for bookings starting from January 2024. Any organisations wishing to book rooms in community time from January 2024, should email exlets@edinburghleisure.co.uk.

For further information, visit:  https://www.edinburghleisure.co.uk/classroom-hire