Bollington Health & Leisure

Bollington Health & Leisure, which operates as an independent charity, is now 42 years old. The original building was constructed by the local community, but on a shoestring budget and the centre is now facing considerable bills to upgrade, replace and renovate. The centre is completely self-funded and receives no funding from any other sources other than the services that it currently offers.

The major project currently being planned is the replacement of the swimming pool and the surrounding decking, the current decking has been in place since the centre opened in 1977, and has been high on the agenda to modernise, to ensure the centre can continue to operate for years to come. Because of the nature of the required works, an approximate shut down of the pool would endure approximately 8 weeks of lost revenue, therefore seeking funding for such project is vital to ensure the successful continuation of the Centre.

This project is particularly pertinent to Bollington Health & Leisure’s mission to teach the children of Bollington and surrounding areas to swim and enjoy water safely, as the centre currently teaches –
 
·         2,000 swimmers each week, within the swim scheme, ranging from 6 month old to adults
·         500 local school children each week, within key stages 2 and 3
·         Specific special needs sessions each week, up to 60 children
·         50 adults of varying ability
·         30 lifeguards per year to achieve nationally recognised qualifications
·         30 swimming teachers per year to achieve nationally recognised qualifications
·         Water relaxation exercises for special populations, such as young stroke survivors, those with Parkinson’s disease and physiotherapy patients from the local hospitals

The impact of the centre swim programme should not be underestimated, as not only does the swimming provision teach lifelong, safety and health skills but the scheme allows the centre to employ local young people in positions of responsibility, in the form of swimming teachers and lifeguards, skills that can then be transferred to later life.
 
With a new modern facility, we hope to attract more local people to use the facility with a range of additional sessions available to certain user groups, including care homes and more school swimming sessions. In addition, we will continue to operate our successful swimming school and maintain the safety aspects for the next generations of young swimmers.