GLL remains the UK's largest leisure and cultural genuine charitable social enterprise focused on improving the physical, mental and social health in communities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We do this in partnership with local authorities, supporting their public health and cultural agendas and through operating both statutory (library and children's centres) and non-statutory (leisure) public services.
Partnering with an expert operator to deliver vital public services remains a popular model that de-risks local authorities from unpredictable operating costs, political change, and cuts to funding.
When GLL operates services with local authorities we form an innovative ‘three way partnership' – GLL, the council and customers – to improve services and increase usage. Benefits are seen across libraries and leisure services.
GLL's effective work across government, health professionals, sport and library leaders is underpinned through our six core values: Partner of Choice, Customers and Communities at our Heart, Tackling Health Inequalities, Respecting the Planet, More Than a Job and The Better Way of Doing Business.
Taken together, these have the power to create societal change, measurable impact and help people live healthier happier and longer lives.
Making a positive difference
GLL is uniquely positioned to provide added value to local authorities' leisure, libraries and cultural services. What sets GLL apart as a social enterprise operator is that as a staff-owned not-for-profit cooperative we have no shareholders to pay and can reinvest all surpluses into creating social value for our communities.
With 57 million visits a year, our facilities are some of the best used in the country and return impressive levels of social value – £445m in 2024 (£90m from libraries). GLL's Corporate Plan will deliver £2bn in social value by the end of 2027.
GLL's unique and longstanding partnerships with health bodies, charities and sports' NGBs brings further advantage – accessing community and elite sporting facilities and programmes – and further strengthens opportunities. GLL is a member of, and has the full backing of, CIMSPA, CLUK, ukactive, Coop UK and SEUK, adding to the weight on the Government lobby to make leisure a statutory service for the health of the nation.
Seizing opportunities for community enrichment through sport, GLL runs the UK's largest independent athlete support programme – the GLL Sport Foundation – distributing more than £16m in 26,000 athlete awards and bursaries over the last 16 years, widening our impact in local communities struggling with the cost of living crisis, including in less advantaged areas. GSF alumni include Tom Daley, Ellie Simmonds, Anthony Joshua and Lucy Shuker.
This year will see the launch of The GLL Literary Foundation, which will support talented aspiring authors who align with GLL's values and aims, while helping them realise their potential and reach a wider audience. Library users will enjoy the unique opportunity to see stories written, attend author events and read diverse books authored by local home-grown talent. Supported authors will also help GLL to improve literacy and reading skills which are essential to improving life opportunities and social mobility.
Supporting other businesses
Turnover from UK social enterprises reached £78bn in 2022-23 and GLL is proud to be part of this growing movement of socially purposed business.
GLL currently has 27 active partnerships with social enterprise suppliers providing GLL with various products and services – strengthening the sector through our supply chain.
Keeping community facilities viable and building more of them
Swim England estimates that the UK may have lost 40% of its swimming facilities by the end of the decade without intervention. Swimming pools (and the political risk of closing them) can be a particular headache for local authorities as the costs of running them have tripled since Covid and the subsequent energy shocks.
Where GLL operates services, we work hard with our local authority partners to find sustainable solutions to protect facilities from closure. Across our 150 pools, GLL uses its significant expertise in energy reduction and green energy generation – combined with investment – to help tackle rising operational costs.
Alongside protecting existing sustainable facilities, GLL works with our partners on long term replacement strategies and to design modern services for the future. GLL has great skill in project managing large new leisure centre developments and retrofitting existing ones to increase longevity and meet net zero targets.
Crunching the numbers
• GLL is the UK's largest provider of public swimming pools, tennis courts, athletics tracks, sports halls and gyms – operating 375 facilities. We have over 260,000 pupils on swimming lessons and school swimming lessons each week.
• Some 45% of our members enjoy a reduced membership price – further reducing barriers to participation among those on low income or in hard to reach communities.
• Our libraries are the best used in the country – Woolwich Library had 817,449 annual visits and Bromley Borough libraries issued 1,367,204 books in 2023. 97% of our library customers rate the service they receive from us as good or excellent
• GLL is an Accredited Real Living Wage Employer – one of only 14,000 in the country - and holds Investors in People Gold status putting us in the top 15% of organisations.
• For every £1 spent, GLL returns around £2 of social value.
• Since 1993, GLL has reinvested over £100m back into our products services and communities.
Peter Bundey is CEO of GLL
This article is sponsored content for The MJ
