Outside Götene, the local PRO association in Källby outside Götene has been allowed to train at the school’s gym during the day. But now pensioners are no longer welcome during school hours, as reported by Swedish Radio.
Kerstin Carlsdotter, local PRO chairman, used to go to the gym herself to train.
– We train to maintain our health, but now it’s over. That’s what makes me upset and disappointed, she says.
The gym is small, about 50 square meters, and at most there are usually five people there at the same time. To get into the gym, you need to pass over the bleachers in the school’s sports hall. But now the municipality wants to protect the school students from external visitors.
– I think you should be able to make an exception for pensioners who want to exercise. We are not allowed to stay at the school because we are “public”. But I see us as the general public, because we pay for membership or cards. They have our personal data and have full control of when we are there.
“Can go to Lidköping instead”
Pensioners have been able to work out at the gym for about 20 years, according to PRO.
– We want to be able to train in groups. The social aspect is important for us older people, because we don’t have workmates and many are lonely. So this is a way for us to hang out.
Several of the pensioners have physiotherapy on prescription. Kerstin Carlsdotter herself usually takes help from a physiotherapist.
– I have an appointment so that my physiotherapist can follow up on how I am doing. But no, we are ported. Now we can go to Lidköping instead if you want to train.
A matter of security, according to the principal
Kerstin Carlsdotter says she does not know why the municipality made the decision. When TV4 reaches the principal at the school, she explains that it is about safety for the students.
– The school is not a public place. We want students to feel safe on school grounds. You move around the room where there are changing rooms and students who need security. We simply need to know who is moving around the school grounds, says Ellen Lindblad, principal at Källby Gård school.
“They don’t want us there”
Ellen Lindblad states that the school has been involved in the discussion, but not decision-making. It is the municipality’s politician who made the decision.
– The school is not a public place, and then we have to limit it. Even for those who have a prescription. We are looking at solutions, but the door is unfortunately closed 8-16 at the school, says Marcus Källander (M), chairman of the committee for education, culture and leisure in Götene, to P4 Skaraborg.
The pensioners have now been offered to pay extra for the municipality to build a new front door, according to Kerstin Carlsdotter. It would have meant that they do not have to pass through the sports hall.
But PRO does not want to agree to that.
– There is a room, which is unused, which we should be able to use. I think it’s about them not wanting us there, says Kerstin Carlsdotter.