We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who attended our public meeting on Wed 13th Nov to find out more about the work we have been doing to secure our future.
If you were unable to attend this meeting and would like to provide feedback please complete this survey: https://forms.gle/EkEwhGAXNGVqdnnk7.
“We need your help, your time, “ – Caroline Ford, Committee Member
Thank you to Anita Atkinson (formerly of The Weardale Gazette) for providing a write up of the meeting held.
Well-attended meeting hears plans for Stanhope Open Air Swimming Pool – Anita Atkinson
Around 100 people attended a meeting held in St Thomas church hall in Stanhope tonight to listen to an update on the Weardale Open Air Swimming Pool in Stanhope.
Julian Haynes, who has been associated with the pool for around 30 years as a volunteer, made the welcome to the huge audience and explained that the event was to outline the project to re-open the pool, which closed in September 2022. He said there was a need to galvanise community support in the quest to attract funding in the future.
He introduced the speakers for the evening – Dr Steve Lumb, a long-time supporter of the pool; Caroline Ford and Steve Howell who was bringing his expertise in the field of funding sport and leisure. Mr Haynes added that representatives from Durham County Council had been helping the project too.
Dr Lumb began with information and a background on what has happened to the pool over the last two years. He explained that ‘four or five’ people had been working to try and bring the pool back into use for the general public but that the project needs more people to help. He mentioned that a change in Government had set them back but they continued to work towards the ultimate goal.
“Where are we now?”, he said. “Why did the pool close?”
He showed the audience a slide projected on a large screen where bullet points explained the reasons. It showed that the main reasons for closure were:
Plant Failure and funding constraints due to tenure – funding bodies are not keen to give money to organisations when a lease is coming to an end. The lease was running out and the pool, built in 1974 with a life expectancy of 30 years had been serving the community for 51 years and age had taken its toll. There was also the problem of lack of volunteers and practical community support.
Dr Lumb added that the pool had benefitted in the past from many volunteers but in recent years, this support had diminished. He particularly singled out Julian Haynes’ daughter, Ruth, who had run the pool for a few years before it closed but operational staffing challenges were a growing problem. He also mentioned the rising costs, not least the electricity charges.
“ What we are looking to try and do is secure a long-term tenure of 10 years,” he said. “ To extend the lease or buy the freehold”, he added. “ There is a small number of people on board but we need more structure behind the management team. We need more volunteers.”
Dr Lumb recited a string of necessary work, including the electrics, a new boiler, re-lining the pool, customer service, toilets, showers. What was shiny and new 50 years ago is now well past the sell-by date. Basically, everything needs renewing.
He said if the pool is to return to full use then it will depend on the level of community support and successful funding applications. If neither can be achieved, this facility, the only heated swimming pool in the county, will be lost to the community and visitors.
The next slide he showed was entitled ‘Draft Mission’. ‘To ensure Stanhope Outdoor Pool reopens as a community facility providing a sustainable heated outdoor swimming provision for educational, leisure and tourism for both residents and visitors to Weardale by 2026’.
Dr Lumb showed another slide, showing a list of why this small group of people believe the project is possible: funding opportunities do exist; that there is community support and the hundred or so people in the hall proved that. He also spoke about outdoor swimming becoming more and more popular, citing the successful opening of the quarry where a whole community of cold water swimming has grown in just a few short months. He spoke about outdoor pools in other areas, including Haltwhistle and Askham, which were very popular but admitted that outdoor pools in the north were shrinking in number.
The next speaker was Steve Howell who asked, ‘what will the community have to do to help bring the pool back’? To achieve the objective there would have to be the establishment of robust governance arrangements and the need to develop a sustainable business plan as well as securing the tenure of the land the pool is built on. There is a need to ensure that all mechanical and electrical plant is fit for purpose and the need for enhancement of the customer/user experience through the facilities and programme. Funding would need to be secured to achieve all of this.
Steve, who has a lot of experience in sport and funding, spoke about various ways to help the cost of running a pool and attracting funding both to re-open it and to cover the running costs. The first objective would be to secure the tenure of the land, either with ownership or a tenancy but the most important matter to achieve this was to attract volunteers to help.
He explained that the funding goal was ‘big dollar’, especially in funding mechanical and electrical work. “Nothing that needs doing will be cheap,” he said. “We could do it in phases – begin with the fundamentals in phase one and improve on the ‘trimmings’ later, including things such as sun beds, lockers etc.”
He mentioned the cost of hiring professionals although the true cost is unknown at this point. It wouldn’t be easy to raise cash and funding but there are many opportunities although not guaranteed. He told the audience that was is needed is a package, not to rely on one fund.
“Little bits can help. For instance, a crowd-funding project that may not raise much funding but show the intent of the community, which could attract larger funding from other bodies.”
He advised the audience that although there is a large cost to not be scared by it. There are lots to explore, he said, and reminded them that other groups of people had managed to achieve the same objective in other parts of the north. He added that what was needed was a large management group to build on the three faithful Trustees of the charity that remain.
“Those who hold the cheque books want to see that – the expertise, the work and effort.”
Funding could potentially come from such organisations as the Area Action Partnership, Lottery Funding, charitable trusts and foundations as well as Durham County Council and others.
The final speaker was Caroline Ford who has expertise in community projects such as this. She spoke on ‘shaping the future: community support and involvement’ and asked, ‘How can you help’.
She said she was going to ask if the community actually wanted the pool to re-open but the volume of people who had attended seemed to answer the question for her. She spoke about what the community wanted their pool to look like, and what facilities it would include and advised that if the community wanted the pool to continue then their help is needed.
“We need your help, your time, “ she said before asking for folk to join the project group and saying it would not be a long-term commitment until the pool was ‘sorted’ – around two years of work. When the pool is open, there would be a need for volunteers for such work as gardening and admin roles the latter could be done from home without the need to even visit the pool. More Trustees are needed too – trustees because the pool is a registered charity.
Finally, she urged all those who attended to fill in the feedback forms because this is the next step. “If you don’t want the pool, please say before more work is done.”
There was an opportunity to ask questions although only two were asked. One person asked how those who wanted to help but who couldn’t attend the meeting could make contact. The answer was via the Facebook page or the website. The second question was more direct: is the landlord willing to sell the land or lease it? The answer was that at present the Trustees are going through a statutory lease renewal process.
“That’s all we can say at the moment but our ultimate aspiration is to purchase the freehold although we may have to settle for a lease.”
Jo Hayes from Westgate, who was a volunteer at the pool for 40 years spoke and explained that her paid work at the time was as a Community worker in Weardale. She said she wanted the pool to open and spoke of her experience of running it in the past: the lack of volunteers, how things broke down with the difficulties of having them repaired and operating on a shoe-string budget made it very difficult. She advised that the work should be done as a whole from the beginning and not in phases.
Mrs Hayes thanked the speakers for attending and for ‘giving us the nuts and bolts and …the truth’. The audience burst into spontaneous applause.
Before the meeting ended, Dr Lumb asked again for volunteers – by a show of hands from those interested in helping out. More than half the audience responded positively.
The meeting ended with most people leaving with a more positive feeling about the return of this unique facility in County Durham.