Swimming Pool funding secured for Preston Leisure Centres

Additional funding from Sport England has been accepted by Preston City Council Cabinet Members (Wednesday 5 March) to support a capital investment to improve energy efficiency at Fulwood Leisure Centre.

The grant sum of £226,552 will be transferred to Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), the charitable social enterprise that operates Better leisure centres in Preston including Fulwood and Westview, on behalf of Preston City Council.

Rising energy prices over recent years have significantly increased the costs of keeping the two swimming pools open. Since transferring over the running of the city's leisure city centre assets to GLL in 2017, GLL has been able to deliver substantial savings to protect the long-term viability of these important community assets.

Following a successful bid from the Phase 1 Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF) in September 2023, the Council has now received funding from the Phase 2 SPSF.

Due to the national demand on this funding, the government and Sport England is only awarding the funding to one facility per local authority and to fund two interventions at that site.

A single application was submitted on behalf of all the eligible pools in the area.

The funding will be used to install solar panels to the roof of Fulwood Leisure Centre which will significantly reduce energy bills by lowering the centre's reliance on the national grid, while contributing to carbon savings.

The old boiler will be replaced with a new state-of-the-art heating system which will further improve the energy efficiency of the building. 

Councillor Zafar Coupland, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing said:

Swimming pools are such an important part of our communities and are accessed by many as an enjoyable, low impact activity for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. The additional grant funding is a critical and very welcome boost in helping our leisure centres to stay operational and to carry out ongoing essential repairs.

One of the aims of the Phase 2 funding agreement is to encourage the leisure sector to transition to a position of environmental and financial sustainability through local strategic plans for leisure and active wellbeing.

Established in 1993, GLL is the largest UK-based charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, health and community services. Operating under the Better brand, it manages 250 public sport and leisure centres, 113 libraries and 10 children's centres in partnership with 50 local councils, public agencies and sporting organisations.

Michael Manley, Preston Partnership Manager at GLL said:

The move reinforces our commitment to supporting renewable energy, while allowing us to make vital savings on energy costs. These savings will be reinvested so that we can continue our ongoing programme of improvements to enhance the customer experience, offer the best possible leisure facilities and better serve the community of Preston.

Preston City Council actively applies and prioritises the principles of Community Wealth Building wherever applicable and appropriate. Community Wealth Building is an approach which aims to ensure the economic system builds wealth and prosperity for everyone.

Sport England 

Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport.

It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That's why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active - like women, disabled people and people on lower incomes.