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Free swimming for the 60 and overs and 16 and unders

5 November 2008

From April 2009 for two years, residents in Amber Valley, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derby City, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire will be able to swim at local pools for free if they are aged 16 and under or 60 and over.

The move is in response to the Government's Free Swimming Initiative, part of a plan to ensure a lasting sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

As a whole the county will receive a total of £899,358 of revenue funding each year for two years to subsidise free swimming for 16 and unders and 60 and overs.

In addition, £300,143 of capital funding will be received to help modernise pools, to be spent before April 1, 2009.

Among the leisure centres which will be offering the free swimming scheme will be the Healthy Living Centre and Queen's Park Sports Centre in Chesterfield, and it is hoped the initiative will help improve the levels of participation in sport in Chesterfield which are below the national average.

Cllr Keith Morgan, Chesterfield Borough Council Lead Member Healthy Communities and Leisure, said: "Local people have two fantastic leisure centres on their doorstep and the free swimming initiative will be a real incentive to welcome more people to make use of the facilities and to improve their overall fitness levels. Accepting this grant from the government also gives us access to increased capital funding and offers up the possibility of putting swimming galas back on the agenda at Queen's Park."

In Amber Valley, leisure centres at Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley will offer the free swimming. To support the scheme Amber Valley Borough Council has decided to use the Government's capital allocation of £27,309 to provide specialist equipment to ensure that all people with a disability can use the swimming pools and be taught to swim.

Negotiations are also underway to extend the scheme to Belper Leisure Centre and the Council is hoping that the Trust that manages the Centre will introduce a similar scheme to provide free swimming to those aged 60 and over and 16 and under.

Councillor Chris Short, Cabinet Support Member for Well Being at Amber Valley Borough Council said: "Swimming is a tremendous way for older people to boost their fitness and mobility levels and young people will benefit from increased physical activity to combat rising obesity levels. We hope the scheme will encourage more residents in the Borough to participate in swimming by ensuring that cost is not a barrier for anyone wanting to take part.

"Although the amount of Government grant we have been allocated does not cover the cost of providing free swimming, we are fully committed to introducing the scheme and have worked with our partner DC Leisure to jointly come up with the funds to make up the shortfall."

In June the Government announced a package of £140m to encourage as many local authorities as possible to participate in making swimming free for those aged 60 and over and 16 and under, and in early October local authorities in Derbyshire were told what their share of this fund would be.

The swimming scheme is jointly funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health, Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The £140m fund will be available to local authorities from 2009/10 for two years. Of that, £80m will be available as resource funding, essentially helping to waive admission costs, and £60m will be available as a capital fund to help rejuvenate and maintain existing swimming pools.