Gail Mallarkey

Children and Families Physical Activity Lead

I swam from a young age and won the primary school sports trophy in P7.

I fell into this industry!  I couldn’t decide what to do at university, wanted to either be a teacher or interpreter, so decided to take a year out.  I had completed my Bronze Medallion Lifesaving through my Duke of Edinburgh award, so got myself a full time job at Stonehaven Leisure Centre.

Every day is different, I like seeing children achieving skills they didn’t have, and often didn’t think they could.

I’ve never faced challenges or barriers, the Councils and Trusts I’ve worked for have always been equal opportunity employers and lots of Management posts are filled by women.

Returning from Covid we had 1200 swimmers enrolled back into lessons, currently this month we have reached 2900 swimmers!