I recently attended the Musical Splash session at Riverside Leisure Centre with my toddler, and it was absolutely fantastic. This weekly parent-and-toddler swimming activity is brilliantly organised, featuring a variety of pool toys, water-confidence exercises, and enthusiastic instructors who lead fun sing-alongs and nursery rhymes throughout the session. The heated teaching pool was the perfect temperature, making it comfortable and enjoyable for both children and parents. There was also ample parking available, and the customer service from the staff was excellent from start to finish. I would highly recommend Musical Splash to any parent looking for a fun, engaging, and confidence-building water activity for their little one. We'll definitely be returning!

I only use the gym about three times a week. It's quite impressive with a programme worked out with a trainer which is loaded onto an app or you can use a 'key' which has the information on it. However, not all machines are compatible with the key and some don't have a barcode to scan for the app. You can have a personal trainer to be with you all the time you are there, but I guess that's an additional cost. I pay £41pm for access after 9:30am and includes the pool and ice skating.

This is a brilliant facility. Plenty to do but the kids favour ice skating. I had a go today this time and it was really good fun. The staff and general public are really kind and helpful if you get into a bit of a tumble. The only thing that would be nice is free parking if you use the facility as it rather expensive. Paid over £5 for 3 hours.

I am new to Riverside. Niki was absolutely lovely, very helpful and informative. Emily was lovely and informative and has helped me set up my gym key and routine. I like the gym key system as it keeps track of my progress and let's me know what settings my chair should be reducing guess work so i can just get on with my work out. So far I am very impressed, the place is incredibly clean and there is plenty to do! Plenty of classes to get involved in, gym is nice and clean, bit on the smaller side but I like it this way, staff are lovely and inviting, locker key card was only £2 with seperate showers to the swimming pool showers. I would prefer the car park to have a 4 hour instead or 3 hour limit so I can go to the gym then do a few laps around the pool to finish off my workout and then do a bit of ice skating for fun with my child (a lot for one person to do in a day but its only 1 day a week and is doable).

I am a monthly member of Riverside and the other sports centres that the council have. The upgrade is really nice and is open and spacious. Phones are generally answer quickly and staff are almost always helpful possibly with the exception of a occasional parking permit issues. I really dislike the Chelmsford council's policy is that you could only have your direct debit at the beginning of the month. It doesn't work for me. The gym is really well appointed with a nice atmosphere and a good selection of equipment. I quite like the policy that you need to have a induction when you start as opposed to just being let loose in a gym. The swimming pool is a good size and clean with helpful lifeguards who are not over zealous. However it is absolutely Baltic and somehow even worse than the temperature of the South Woodham pool. It is so cold that I unfortunately cannot personally last a swimming session in it. Showers with variable temperatures and underfloor heating and toilets is a nice touch though. The gym lockers are linked up to the card system which is great for locker availability I'm not sure what the deal is if you forget your card though. We've been to a few parties at Riverside which seemed to be well run.