In Your Shoes - Fraser Calderwood

Saturday - Enrichment

I spent time with the family in Pittenweem, Fife, at the Arts Festival which had over 140 exhibitions. We were lucky to visit in gorgeous sunshine and with hundreds of attendees bringing a vibrancy to a normally sleepy fishing village. It was a lovely day out admiring paintings, sculptures, jewelry and other artwork. Locals opened their houses, sheds and caves to showcase local artists.  
 
In the afternoon and evening we caught up with the Olympics whilst sitting in the garden. The Gold win for Great Britain in climbing brought back memories of my 20s where I spent a lot of time in the Dolomites, Alps and Pyrenees. I shared my own climbing experiences and how talented these superb athletes were compared to the anything that I achieved.  
 
We also enjoyed the diving events. I tried to put the height into context for the children. They have previously been amused by sending me off the top board at the Olympia. These athletes were so controlled, and the physical mobility was incredible. I'll stick to the pencil jumps! 

Sunday - Factory Reset

Before I set out for the day I got in touch with MCR Pathways who had been doing partner awareness activities over the weekend at the Olympia. It was great to hear that their activity had been a success as they engaged with hundreds of people to make them aware of the mentoring programme for school children in the local area. So far they have 200 mentors spending an hour each week to support children. We are very happy to be able to support such great work. 
 
In the morning I was out with the dog and grandad for a nice coastal walk and to see a classic car rally event in Kirkcaldy, Fife. It was another beautiful day with glorious sunshine. There were a wide range of cars from an exciting looking blue Porche 911 Turbo to a classic Rolls Royce.  
 
As the day progressed, I got the chance to watch some of the Olympics Water Polo Finals which was incredible. It reminded me of the Scottish Water Polo Finals at the Olympia that we recently hosted. These are great spectacles. I cannot wait to host other similar events in the future and would encourage people to come spectate because the atmosphere is terrific.  
 
Without a doubt the balance of spending quality time with family at the weekends sets me up for the working week.  

Monday - Spinning the plates

Monday morning starts well as the Business Development & Learning Manager gave me an update highlighting the large number of 5* online reviews that the Olympia had been receiving. Such a credit to all the teams that contributed to delivering the wide range of activities throughout the summer. 

Today is the last day of the holidays for many local schools in Dundee, and with the rain outside, we were busy. I spoke to lots of very excited children and happy families choosing to spend their day with us. This summer has been lively with families enjoying our leisure facilities, particularly water features like flumes and wave pools.  

Today, I also got to see a demonstration of our new Dance for Parkinson's class, Shaper Caper, and I’m excited about the successful health and wellbeing programs we are launching at the Olympia. I took part in some of the exercises to understand how they aim to help with physical and mental challenges. A crucial aspect that I was impressed with was when they spoke about was the socialisation and combatting loneliness.  

Tuesday - Team Development Days at Olympia

In the morning I spoke to the swimming teachers and caught up with the instructors of the Water Play class. This is one of my favourite activities in the venue where parents bring their babies to build water confidence. It’s fun and lovely to see the joy in the babies faces and hearing the giggles. Speaking to parents it was made clear that this was the highlight of their week and is a wonderful programme for the venue. 

Throughout the day I handle inquiries from support teams, clubs, partnering organisations, making for a busy yet fulfilling day that sets a positive tone for the week. 

At Olympia, Tuesdays are dedicated to team development, focusing on training our lifeguards at the venue and across the Leisure & Culture Dundee (L&CD) network. A key part of this training is renewing National Pool Lifeguard Qualifications, benefiting lifeguards from L&CD, Dundee City Council, and local swimming clubs.  

I spoke with our training department about upcoming first aid courses for L&CD, Dundee City Council staff, and external partners. A highlight of Olympia is our training department's integration into the venue. Reflecting on my early career as a lifeguard and trainer, it's rewarding to witness the development of the next generation of people in the industry as they enhance their skills and earn qualifications. 

Wednesday - Daring to be different

Wednesday focuses on essential venue aspects, including Health & Safety audits and team check-ins to identify improvement areas. I also made time to spend with the plant maintenance team at Olympia.

The back-of-house infrastructure for heating, cooling, and cleaning is impressive. Our facilities team works diligently behind the scenes, ensuring visitors enjoy their experiences. You can imagine how much effort it takes to maintain health & fitness facilities, multiple pools, flumes, water features, changing and social areas.  

One highlight whilst walking around was chatting with the instructors of our Good Boost class, which promotes health, wellbeing, fitness and socialising that have become core to our activity at the Olympia. Good Boost is an AI wellness class you can do on a special tablet which we launched a few months ago. They described massive benefits to the participants who had increased mobility because the exercises in shallow water allow for light resistance to bespoke exercises set up to cater to their own conditions.  

I heard how one participant in her 60s was thriving in the class. Her last time in a pool before joining the programme was at 19 years old. The aqua platform lifts and adjustable floor of the activity pool had made it accessible and given her confidence that she was within her depth for comfort. The accessible facilities at the Olympia made it possible for her and now she has increased mobility because she is able to exercise in a supported manner. 

Thursday - Common purpose

On Thursdays, I focus on expanding our network and exploring future opportunities. Strengthening the reach of the Olympia has been a key focus of my work over the past year. This effort includes connecting with partners such as Dundee City Council, tourism organizations, charities, and the NHS, all of whom share our goals. One of the future options I was looking at today was a swimming challenge.

Much of the innovation that has occurred is attributed to our support teams’ ability to engage with these communities to identify impactful projects we can collaborate on. I checked in on a recent new partnership “Your PT,” which provides personal training at the Olympia and now at other venues. They have been a fantastic addition to our offering. This is part of a highly successful range of programs currently available at the Olympia. 

I am particularly passionate about a few initiatives, including the NHS Mental Health program, our walking group, and the Social Swims, all of which positively impact the wellbeing of our community. The Health & Wellbeing team has made significant strides this year, giving us plenty to be excited about.

Talking about things to be excited about before leaving the venue for the day it's always fun to see the flumes in action especially the cannonball! 

Friday - Setting ourselves up to succeed

Friday seemed to come around fast this week. I found myself a person in demand as the teams prepared for the combination of fitness, club, events and fun leisure activities over the weekend. Over the last year it’s been great to see the team develop, I get the chance to direct rather than tinker too much with their work. 

I stopped by to see our busy aquafit class and speak to the participants afterwards. I was so pleased to hear how many of them are enjoying both the social and wellbeing aspects of the programme.  

We are approaching the end of the summer holidays, hosting many young people and families from Dundee and further afield. Leisure Tourism progressively becoming an impacting factor as the Olympia becomes more of a draw to visit the city.  
As the day progressed, I interacted with customers enjoying the fun facilities such as the flumes, diving boards, toddlers pool, river rapids and waves. The common thread was how impressed people are with the venue and enjoying their visit. A great end to my week.