The official site for the Friends of Bingley Pool
Entries for the 1st Brilliant Bingley Biathlon on the 10th July are now open!
You can sign up at http://www.entrycentral.com/BingleyBiathlon
You can download this flyer here.
This is joint event organised by Friends of Bingley Pool, Bingley Amateur Swimming Club and Bingley Harriers and Athletics Club with proceeds being shared equally.
If you would like to help out with the Biathlon on the day then please let us know at bingleypool@gmail.com.
Anna Mdee and Polly Skerratt
Hosted by Paul Smith – Love Withington
Love Withington took over the running of Withington Baths from the Greenwich Leisure (subcontractor for the local authority) in June 2015.
They have 1600 members with a minimum 6 month contracts.
Staff hired are paid the living wage. Staff appeared very committed and enthusiastic. We saw the Senior Swimming Instructor busy with renovations work.
Fitness classes are very popular- classes included yoga, pilates, rhumba, metafit, boxercise, circuits.
Swimming lessons and school swimming are crucial components- originally were told they would not get any school lessons but now asked to take on 8 schools.
Lessons for Bingley
Withington is slightly older than Bingley and the pool is not as big or in as good a condition. It is making a small monthly surplus (despite a new pool facility only 0.5 miles away).
Similar case used by local authority- large estimates of renovations needs to keep the pool open.
Emphasises community use and listening to what people want from the facility. As an independent facility they have the freedom to adapt and serve the needs of the local community.
The meeting was held at Bingley Pool.
Present: Anna, Sarah, Polly, Phil, Brian, David, Maureen, Kevin (Pool Manager)
Committee we delighted to learn that funding has been secured from Bradford Council Facilities to update the changing rooms before the school holidays in Summer. This will include full redecoration of both Male and Female changing rooms.
Anna is looking to secure a meeting with the Council in early April and will communicate details of this once arranged for those wishing to attend.
A visit has been scheduled to Withington Baths in Manchester for the 31st of March, one of only two dates available that the committee member, Paul Smith, was available. So far attending will be Anna (with children), Sarah (possibly with child) and Polly. Anyone else interested in attending should contact Anna so we can possibly lift share on the day.
This will be an ideal opportunity to see how baths similar to Bingley operate on a community run basis.
There will also be contact made with Rhodesway Baths, again a similar going concern to Bingley, with a view to meeting with Kevin Firth. Anna will be arranging this meeting soon, Kevin will supply details of the contact he knows.
It was discussed that we will be making a poster to display at the pool to advertise the changes due to take place in regard to the upgrade of the changing rooms to bolster interest from the public. Phil will also update the website to reflect this.
David again highlighted initial grants that may be available to us to apply for. In the first instance being Sportivate (£500) and Community Funding (£350+). In the absence of any other volunteers Anna will look into this.
The main focus of the meeting was additional fundraising and it was decided that the committee, along with Bingley Harriers and Bingley Swimming Club, would look into the possibility of staging an Aquathon (swimming and running) event in the Summer. This would involve a run in Myrtle Park and a swim at the pool on a sponsored basis. Committee all agreed this would be a worthwhile event and Kevin suggested that a Sunday would be best when looking at suitable dates as this is when the pool has it’s least usage.
Dates will be discussed at the next meeting.
Date of next meeting: 16th April, 9.30am @ Bingley Pool
We had 153 responses to our recent survey. Thank you to all those who took part.
Reports on the results can be downloaded by clicking below:
The next FOBP meeting will take place on the 30th January at 930-10.30 at Cardigan House in Bingley. Please come a long to discuss the results of the recent survey and decide what to do next.
Just a reminder that we have the next meeting of the Friends of Bingley Pool on Saturday 14th November 10am at Cardigan House.
As agreed at the last meeting, Jenny Woodward and I have drafted a survey aimed at pool and gym users. This will be important in directing future fundraising and in supporting potential grant applications. We welcome comments on the attached document. We will also be setting up a version online.
Hopefully we will also have a website up and running in the near future.
I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.
Best wishes
Anna
