WE were interested to hear that Ryedale District Council had accepted a bid for Everyone Active to run their health and leisure facilities in Ryedale.

We had been happy gym-goers under the Community Leisure Company for two years and expected to enjoy the same benefits under the new regime, especially as the council is so keen to keep older people active and avoid cost implications of obesity and isolation in older age.

Imagine how we felt when going to rejoin the gym for this coming year when we were told that as 60+ people it would now cost us £240 per year to join whereas last year it had cost us a mere £147.

Under the old regime we were allowed the facility of adding on any holiday/vacation time missed, but the new company offers no such flexibility.

For retired people on a set income, this seems diametrically opposed to the council’s philosophy of everyone active, especially the elderly.

Phil and Hillery Stonehewer, Pickering