This is the website of the ëLondon Pools Campaigní an organisation set up by 6 of the threatened and closed London swimming pools to highlight the plight of swimming in the capital, particularly in the light of the governmentís very recent commitment to combat Britainís couch potato culture.

Backed by Sport England, the London Pools Campaign is asking for

1. Greater recognition of swimming as a prime sport for healthy living and building local communities
2. Funding for Londonís threatened pools
3. A London-wide strategy for promoting swimming and preserving the capitalís historic pools and lidos

Following the Performance and Innovation Unitís report A Sporting Future for All in December 2002, The London Pools Campaign welcomes the initiatives and commitments set out by The Government.

The first overarching objective is

¨a major increase in participation in sport and physical activity, primarily because of the significant health benefits and to reduce the growing costs of inactivity;¨

Their first overall recommendation relates to grass-roots participation

¨a wide range of initiatives are needed, with a focus on economically disadvantaged groups, in particular young people …women and older people. These need to tackle all the barriers to participation (such as lack of time, cost, information or motivation), as well as failure in provision (poor coaches or facilities)¨.

The first of the governmentís visions for sport in 2020 is

¨To encourage a mass participation culture… Our target is for 70% (currently 30%) of the population to be reasonably active (for example of moderate exercise five times a week by 2020).

The London Pools campaign welcomes this vision and commitment and asks the government to look at the funding and strategy for swimming pools in London.

1. Greater recognition of swimming as a prime sport for healthy living and building local communities

Swimming is the only sport activity which can be done at any age and by all sections of the population. It can be done in all weathers, has a major impact on health and fitness ñ and is now part of the national curriculum for primary school children.

Swimming pools can be centres of the community ñ meeting places where the pool building may also house complimentary sporting activities ñ like a gym and various exercise classes.

Swimming is a highly popular sport. The ASA say
¨Market research indicates that over 22% of the population swims for exercise at least once per month, the highest participation figure of any sport¨.

And there is also high latent demand. For example Sport Englandís survey Sports participation and ethnicity in England 1999/2000 found
¨Swimming rates very highly amongst men and women from all ethnic groups as a sport they currently don’t participate in that they would like to, and rates are higher generally for women than men. The levels of ‘frustrated demand’ reach as high as 31% for Black African women and it is amongst women that we see swimming feature the most prominently. Even amongst Asian women the levels of interest in swimming are high with 22% of Indian, 21% of Bangladeshi and 16% of Pakistani women saying they would like to take part in swimming. These levels of interest should be set alongside the relatively low levels of participation in swimming amongst most ethnic groups….¨.

2. Funding for Londonís threatened pools

Yet many pools across London are being allowed to deteriorate until the cost of refurbishment becomes prohibitive and they are closed.

Funding is left to local authorities and no link is made between the provision of sporting facilities and itís health benefits to the community.
Local authorities are struggling to meet their major commitments and say they cannot fund the refurbishment of these deteriorating facilities. This problem then falls to local communities who want to save their pools and heroically take on the enormous task of raising millions of pounds to renovate these buildings.

Inevitably the areas where the pools are most needed for health and social reasons are those where the communities are least equipped for taking on this kind of task.

On top of the capital funding required, pools need revenue subsidy ñ a typical Victorian pool in London will need a grant of about £250,000 a year. While the capital funding is difficult, putting together a package to generate this kind of subsidy each year is nigh impossible for community organisations.

3. A London-wide strategy for promoting swimming and preserving the capitalís historic pools and lidos

We would like to see swimming organised on a London-wide basis as, like transport, a swimming strategy makes no sense at Borough level. For example Haggerston Pool in Hackney was closed in February 2000 and one of the justifications given was that swimmers could go to York Hall a couple of miles down the road in Tower Hamlets. However now York Hall is to close as Tower Hamlets only has to consider itís own residents in analysing its swimming provision.

If the government is serious about improving health and fitness then sorting out the funding for swimming pools would be a good first step.