Emma Burford loves her job. She has worked at the Wirksworth Leisure Centre for over 4 years now. You may have met here there... Just click on to "People's Gallery" and you will see a pictures of Emma and a few of her colleagues.
Emma was born in Mayfield, near Ashbourne, and lived for a time in North End in Wirksworth. Now she has her own house in Derby.
At school Emma always liked sport and was particularly good at cross-country running until she suffered a knee injury. These days she maintains her all-round interest in sport. She likes football, plays a lot of tennis, and goes to a Kick Boxing club with other Centre Attendants run by Stephen Wanford.
It is the variety of duties of a Centre Attendant which makes her work so interesting. Sometimes she is helping in the gym, sometimes in Reception, at others she is on lifeguard duty in the pool. Occasionally she takes her turn as Duty Manager, supervising staff and keeping an eye on things in general.
Such responsible work requires knowledge and skill. When Emma started she had to have the RLSS Pool Lifeguard qualification. Today, with other staff, she goes regularly to training sessions. She has studied gym instruction and has passed the Pool Plant Maintenance Course. Every Friday, as part of staff training with Mick Sharman, the Centre Manager, there is instruction on Health and Safety.
Asked what she likes most about her job, Emma said it is the direct contact she has with people - "the hands-on approach" to her job. Her ambition is to progress in client-based work, giving personal instruction in the gym, devising programmes on a 1 to 1 basis.
Many children use the Centre so all the staff must be CRB checked. Many very young children use the Pool and Emma finds the Parent/Toddler sessions very enjoyable. "It is lovely to see how children, each with a parent, are introduced to the water .. from small babies to four year olds. They soon lose any fear, find it is fun, gain confidence and learn to swim."
As with any job, of course, there are always a few people who complain and some will complain about everything you can think of but, explained Emma, as a public service worker this is to be accepted. Clients comments are always taken seriously and suggestions for improvements welcomed. Fortunately, however, most people using the facilities are full of praise for the Centre generally and for the staff members who help them.
