Funding to help keep Preston swimming pools afloat

Preston City Council has accepted funding from Sport England to support the increased running costs at the city's two leisure centres at West View and Fulwood.

The £257,000 funding will be transferred to Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) who currently operate the leisure facilities in the city. Established in 1993, GLL is the largest UK-based charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, health and community services.

The Council transferred the running of the leisure centres to GLL in April 2017 who have been able to deliver significant savings to protect the long-term viability of these important community facilities.

As energy prices continue to rise, it has becoming increasingly more difficult to meet the costs associated with keeping swimming pools open. A national fund was created to support some of these increased costs and the Council and GLL worked together to apply for funding.

Tim Bestford, GLL's Head of Service for the North Region said:

"While GLL's leisure centres continue to be maintained as a very important, central part of our communities, we have also been under increasing pressure to pay the bills. The funding has come at a critical time for us to help keep the swimming pools open for our residents and we are pleased that through working together with the Council we are able to avoid any unnecessary closures."

Councillor Jennifer Mein, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, added:

"The funding will help towards the high costs of running the swimming pools which include utility bills and pool chemical costs. Swimming is a great way to stay healthy and active and is used by lots of different members of the community as a low impact, all-round beneficial form of exercise. It is important that we continue to safeguard and support our leisure centres and provide access to community facilities that contribute to the greater health and wellbeing of our residents."

Sport England's Director of Place, Lisa Dodd-Mayne said

"We know just how vital swimming pools and leisure centres are to our nation's activity levels, which is why Sport England is proud to have played a central role in the delivery of this fund. 

"Many pools have faced a real and significant threat to their survival this year, as local authorities and operators battle the challenge of increased energy and maintenance costs, weakened reserves and difficulties with retaining staff.

"Today's announcement is an important moment in time, but is by no means the end of the work facing us or the support available as we continue to work with our partners to ensure the long-term viability of these vital community resources."

Sports Minister Stuart Andrew said:

"Leisure centres and pools are  vital for millions of people to stay fit and healthy, and we know that many public swimming pools are experiencing greater pressure due to increased operating costs.

"We have heard their concerns and have stepped in to help them make ends meet with £20 million immediate relief, and a further £40 million to help improve sustainability of public swimming pools over the long term.

"This is part of our support for grassroots sports facilities with more than £400 million in order to achieve our ambitious target of getting 3.5 million more people active by 2030."

Additional Information

Swimming pools and leisure centres across England have today received a share of £20 million central Government funding to keep them afloat in response to increased operating costs.

• Nearly 200 leisure centres are supported by Swimming Pool Support Fund
• Over 100 local authorities awarded a share of £20 million to keep their swimming pools and leisure centres open
• £60 million in total to be distributed over the next few months, to assist with increased operating costs and to improve sustainability
• Supports Government ambition to get 3.5 million more people active by 2030

Swimming is a valuable life skill for people of all ages, important for safety as well as both physical and mental health and wellbeing. Swim England's latest Value of Swimming report showed how water-based activity, such as swimming, helps generate social value of £2.4 billion a year.

The Swimming Pool Support Fund was announced at the March Budget to support facilities with swimming pools. This first £20 million of funding is going to the swimming pools and leisure centres most at risk of closure or significant service reduction, and will be used to help with the recent rise in energy costs, such as paying towards immediate maintenance costs, heating and pool chemicals.

Today's announcement means that 196 leisure centres and swimming pools in 103 local authorities will benefit from this funding supporting over 23 million swims a year collectively, meaning millions of people across the country will have the chance to stay fit and healthy a, contributing to the Government's aim to cut obesity rates and get millions more people active.

Operating costs including but not limited to heating, alongside general inflationary pressure has increased considerably over recent months, with local authorities facing greater challenges to make ends meet as a result.