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London Pools Campaign

How easy is it to get a swim in the Capital? The answer is, increasingly difficult! Cash-strapped councils are withdrawing support to London’s aging pool stock, forcing closure or the shortening of opening hours. Everywhere you look you will find another community that has lost its local pool - depriving residents and workers of a really valuable facility.

This situation has been ignored for too long. Children are not learning how to swim competently and residents and workers in London are experiencing a substantial reduction in the quality of life.

All over London there are individual campaigns for local facilities. The London Pools Campaign has been formed to bring these campaigns together and to help these campaigns. It hopes to ensure that all Londoners will have access to inexpensive local pools and to preserve and expand existing pool stock.

Pools cost money, no-one can deny this but the London Pools Campaign’s position is that the provision of pools must be given a higher priority and a realistic, sustainable way forward must be found. The government is aware that swimming is the most popular mass participatory sport and that the nation is becoming dangerously unhealthy yet it is doing nothing to improve the swimmer's lot.

The London Pools Campaign wants to see the government, the London authority and the local councils to work together to make London a healthier city and a great place for swimmers to live and work.

Sport England support the mission statement of the London Pools Campaign.

London Pools Campaign Launch The London Pools campaign is being launched in support of the York Hall campaign. We will be demonstrating outside Tower Hamlets Council buildings on Wednesday March 5th at 6:30pm. (Address: Clove Road, E14 near East India DLR). There will be banners from the London Pools campaign and from all the other campaigns involved in the campaign.

The BBC are filming this for the regional news.

Pool Campaigns involved:

Marshall Street, W1: 1930s building, originally with 2 pools - one with white marble lining and glass roof. Closed since 1997 for refurbishment and still waiting for a properly funded plan to be accepted by Westminster Council. Michael Palin is patron of campaign.

Haggerston Pool. Built 1903. Edwardian Pool Hall. Closed 3 years ago by Hackney Council on safety grounds after they had allowed the pool building to decay. Now needs £5 million to refurbish.

London Fields Lido Closed 17 years ago – 50 meter pool mentioned in plans for Olympics. Determined campaigners stood in front of the bulldozers and stopped Hackney Council’s attempts to demolish it.

Brockwell Lido – also known as ‘Brixton Beach’. Lambeth Council is no longer willing to subsidise this historic 1930’s 50meter outdoor facility – much loved and used by the locals. Hope for future depends on transfer to alternative management.

Poplar Baths – closed 15 years ago when was temporarily transferred to Docklands Development Corporation as space to train builders to work on Docklands. Local community understood pool would be returned in better state – but in fact the builders filled the pools with concrete and the building is now derelict.

York Hall – famous for boxing as well as swimming. Tower Hamlets council recently announced proposals to knock it down to build flats. Big campaign taking place backed by boxing aristocracy.

Swiss Cottage Pool – pool well known to swimmers across London. Now demolished by Camden Council to build 169 flats on top of a much reduced sports facility.

Hampton Pool – Richmond Council tried to close this down this outdoor pool 17 years ago and got to the point of piling up the rubble in the car park. Local people organized themselves, took over the pool and have been running it ever since. Now struggling to find money for major repairs.

Sport England says “Sport England is committed to ensuring that by working with our many partners and through sustained strategic investment we will aim to make England a healthier nation by providing everyone with opportunities to participate in sport and active recreation. Sport England acknowledges that the Mission Statement adopted by the London Pools Campaign is a credible one and that active recreation in the form of swimming can bring communities together and can benefit the health of anyone who participates in it. Sport England has done much to advance the cause of sport and to attempt to place sport at the heart of the Government's agenda. Regrettably, Sport England's own objectives are not always adopted by those with the responsibility to deliver at the local level. This undoubtedly leads to an imbalance of investment and an imbalance of sporting opportunity. A position that over time we aim to address”

Contact Liz Hughes (administrator of London Pools Campaign) for more info and details of contacts of other pool campaigners. Phone : 020 7690 6662. Email : pool@hced.co.uk web: http://londonpoolscampaign.ground-level.org

Campaigners from pools around London joined the York Hall demonstrators to lobby Tower Hamlets Council on March 5th.  In a day that had the Campaign seen and heard on radio and television people also came to York Hall to show how much the centre means to the community. See the pictures....