Parks exercise licence

If you wish to use one of our parks for personal training or to run fitness sessions on a commercial basis, you must be licensed.

We issue licences to sports clubs and businesses that charge their customers. These licences permit the use of park space to run organised activities which allows us to regulate the use and maintain safety.

Once you've acquired a parks exercise licence, you can post your classes for free using open sessions.

We issue these licences because:

• all visitors should have access to and use of public open spaces
• we must protect public parks for everyone to enjoy and benefit from various forms of fitness training in public spaces
• fitness operators must have appropriate qualifications (based on industry best practices)
• fitness operators must be fully insured and hold liability for participants' safety
• we must manage the high demand for fitness providers wishing to use Southwark's parks

View our code of conduct ^{(PDF, 90kb)} and terms and conditions ^{(PDF, 124kb)} for more details.

Applying for a licence

Apply for a parks exercise licence online 

When filling out the online form, you'll need:

• park details
• proposed dates & times
• to upload relevant documents (eg qualifications, first aid certificate etc)
• proof of insurance
• completed risk assessments for your activity

Applications must be submitted at least 20 working days before the intended start date. All start dates are granted as the first day of the corresponding month in which the applications are submitted.

Fees

Our fees change monthly or annually. Businesses who charge their customers should take note of these changing fees.

View our new parks exercise licence fees ^{(PDF, 85kb)} 

If your fitness activities are free to customers, we can provide a free licence.  

If you're experiencing issues applying for a licence or if you have any questions, email us.

Page last updated: 12 June 2023