Meet The Team

Shane joined Castle Point Leisure in 2003 and has worked in various roles from Lifeguarding the swimming pools, Team Leader, Duty Manager, Marketing and Sports Development, Leisure and Community Services General Manager and now the Assistant Director – Recreation. Shane is extremely proud of the teams multiple award-winning streaks since 2020 by winning the National Team of the Year, multiple Best Regional Operator Awards and prestigious NPS awards just to name a few! As a local lad Shane is very motivated by the fun, social and health and wellbeing benefits our centres offer our communities and is privileged to lead the team!

JJ started out as a Leisure Attendant in 2015 after studying Marketing at University. He quickly became a Relief Duty Manager and in 2017 became the Membership & Marketing Officer which he stayed in post for 6 and a half years and have now become the Leisure General Manager.  JJ is particularly proud of being part of the management team in the series of successes of the leisure centres including the prestigious awards they’ve won since 2019.

Josh joined Castle Point Leisure at the back end of 2012. After a successful career in Personal Training, Josh developed into Fitness management and has since been a key part of the Gym refurbishments team, including the newly built Runnymede Leisure Centre. Josh manages a team of 30 Group Exercise Instructors and 12 Fitness Instructors and looks after Customer Retention, Group Exercise & Health & Wellbeing at both Waterside and Runnymede. Josh is full of energy and is proud of his role in Castle Point Leisure’s success.

Kelly is one of the longest serving employees at Castle Point Leisure, being here for 22 years. Kelly started in 2001 doing administration work. She changed roles to become the Sales & Customer Service Manager in 2011 and has continued in this role for the past 12 years and leads the front of house team at both sites. Being born on Canvey Island Kelly does know most customers that use our centre which is a bonus having a friendly welcoming local employee, Kelly has helped with many changes over the years of working within leisure to the thriving team and service that we offer today.

Kelly is a team player for our service also being our mental health first aider supporting customers and staff throughout.

Jo started as a Swimming Instructor with Castlepoint Leisure in 2016 following a maternity leave break and a previous career as an HR Manager.  Jo ran many successful classes of all levels and took over as the Swim Academy Manager in October 2021.

Jo manages the team of 29 swimming instructors and develops the swim programme in line with the needs of our community and is most proud of the strategic recruitment and training that has taken place in the last year to grow our swim school and increase the offering to the people that need it most.  Jo still enjoys teaching and is very passionate about safety and having fun and can be regularly seen on poolside.

Aimee first started out as a Leisure Attendant in September 2020 after getting her qualification back in the February. She was quickly promoted to a Team Leader after just 8 months. She continued to excel in this role up until December of 2022 where she was promoted again to the role of Duty manager which she now does full time.

Aimee is also a fully qualified Trainer Assessor (TA) which she particularly enjoys. This means that she now runs the National Pool Lifeguarding Qualification (NPLQ) courses for new lifeguards where they learn rescue skills, first aid, and CPR. The quality and competence of the skills are maintained through monthly training sessions which are provided by Aimee and other TA’s on the team.

I have worked at Castle Point Leisure since I was 16 when I started as a lifeguard and have since progressed to become a part of the reception team and then a Team Leader, and most recently became a Duty Manager in 2022. I still really enjoy working in different departments and regularly work in reception, so make sure you say hello!

Connor joined Castle Point Leisure in 2014 as a Leisure Attendant, a short while later he took on more training to become a Relief Duty Manager. In 2018 Connor became a Duty Manager taking over the Staffing and Recruitment role as well as being one of the Trainer Assessors at Castle Point Leisure.

Gary’s Castle Point Leisure journey started in 2018 as a BodyPump instructor. Over the years, Gary has added to the classes he teaches and personal trainer.

In 2024, Gary joined the management team as a Marketing and Membership manager.

Mike started his career in the leisure industry as a gym instructor in 2007, from there he went on to work for various companies within the public and private sector. He worked his way from a gym instructor, to a full time personal trainer and group exercise instructor, then as a fitness manager and now currently works at Castle Point leisure as a Duty manger. Mike is currently the lead for the training programme at CPL, managing and undertaking Lifeguard courses, on-going RLSS training, First Aid courses, Pool Plant Operators training with the STA, and internal management training for staff wishing to progress their own careers.

Ben started as a Leisure Attendant in 2015 and become a relief duty manager in 2019, then became a Duty Manager in 2021. Ben is responsible for running of the leisure centres on a day to day basis and maintains the pools as well as training the lifeguards as an RLSS Trainer Assessor. Ben is very passionate about the water as he is also a water sports instructor. He can be regularly seen about the building at both sites.