Penrith Swimming Club Calls On Council To Protect £40,000 Frenchfield Teaching Pool Legacy

Penrith Swimming Club shares disappointment at Winter Droving leaving Penrith and asks why the swimming pathway its community helped fund is now under threat and calls on council to give reassurance over the investment made by the community.

The Club is calling on Westmorland and Furness Council to protect the legacy of approximately £40,000 raised by the Club and local community towards the creation of the Frenchfield Teaching Pool around 1991, as a GLL proposal would prevent the Club using that pool for its own introductory Learn to Swim provision.

At the centre of the dispute is an instruction sent to PSC on 1 August by the General Manager of Penrith Leisure Centre, stating:

“Upon your return following the summer break, Penrith SC will not be authorised to operate any Junior Learn to Swim sessions during pool hire times at Penrith Leisure Centre.”

For PSC, that would mean losing its ability to use the Frenchfield Teaching Pool for the introductory swimming provision which forms the beginning of the Club’s pathway, despite generations of Club members and the local community having helped fund its creation.

The proposal has not been withdrawn, although GLL has since apologised for how the situation was initially handled and the previously fixed cessation date is no longer fixed while discussions continue.

£40,000 RAISED TO HELP CREATE FRENCHFIELD

Around 1991, Penrith Swimming Club and the local community raised approximately £40,000 towards the creation of the Frenchfield Teaching Pool at Penrith Leisure Centre.

For a voluntary sports club and local community, it was an extraordinary fundraising achievement. In today’s purchasing power, the contribution would be worth well over £100,000.

The Frenchfield Teaching Pool takes its name from PSC’s historic home at Frenchfield on the River Eamont. A plaque at Penrith Leisure Centre continues to recognise the Club’s contribution.

More than 30 years later, the Frenchfield Teaching Pool continues to provide swimming opportunities and enables regular revenue-generating lessons and activities to take place.

PSC says that makes the current proposal particularly difficult to accept.

Luke Brown of Penrith Swimming Club said:

“Our predecessors raised around £40,000 to help create the Frenchfield Teaching Pool because they wanted future generations in Penrith to have opportunities in swimming.

“In today’s terms, that was well over £100,000 of community investment.

“More than 30 years later, the Frenchfield Teaching Pool is still providing those opportunities and generating regular revenue for the leisure centre.

“Yet we are now facing a proposal from the operator which would mean Penrith Swimming Club could no longer use the Frenchfield Teaching Pool for the introductory swimming pathway our members helped create it to support.”

“We want GLL’s programme to succeed. But it is incredibly difficult for our members to understand why the Club that helped fund this facility should now be prevented from delivering the beginning of its own pathway within it.”

COUNCIL SEEKS REASSURANCE OVER WINTER DROVING FUNDING

The Club’s call comes as Westmorland and Furness Council seeks reassurance over its own investment following the decision to move the Winter Droving from Penrith to Carlisle.

PSC shares the Council’s disappointment at losing an event which has become an important part of Penrith’s community life.

Following the announcement, the Council said it had contacted Eden Arts to “seek reassurance that the core funding provided this year will be used to deliver activities in the Eden area, in line with the funding agreement.”

PSC believes that is entirely reasonable and is asking the Council to consider the same underlying principle when looking at the community investment in the Frenchfield Teaching Pool.

Brown said:

“We share the disappointment at the Winter Droving leaving Penrith and completely understand why the Council wants reassurance that money it provided continues to benefit the community for which it was intended.

“We are asking for that same principle to be considered for the Frenchfield Teaching Pool.”

“The circumstances are different, but what reassurance can the Council give the generations of swimmers, volunteers and local families who raised around £40,000 towards the Frenchfield Teaching Pool that the purpose and legacy of their investment will continue to be protected?”

PSC CONTINUES TO PAY AROUND £40,000 EVERY YEAR

The Club’s financial contribution did not end in the 1990s.

PSC has subsequently invested in equipment at Penrith Leisure Centre and today spends approximately £40,000 every year on pool hire.

The Frenchfield Teaching Pool the Club helped fund therefore continues to generate revenue, while PSC itself continues to pay substantial sums to use the leisure centre.

“We aren’t asking to use the Frenchfield Teaching Pool for free and we aren’t asking for GLL’s swimming lessons to stop,” Brown said.

“We are asking to continue paying to use a facility our community helped create.”

For PSC, the provision at stake is also much more than a standalone set of swimming lessons. It is the beginning of a pathway:

Introductory Swimming → Development → C Squad → B Squad → A Squad → Water Polo & Masters Swimming → Coaching → Volunteering → Lifelong Participation

The Club believes removing access to the Frenchfield Teaching Pool for that introductory provision threatens the beginning of the entire pathway.

CONCERN NOW RAISED IN PARLIAMENT

The dispute has now reached Parliament.

Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours has tabled Early Day Motion 778, Penrith Swimming Club, which celebrates the Club’s 145-year history and specifically “notes the vital role played by the swim club in fundraising for the training pool at Penrith Leisure Centre.”

The motion also expresses concern about the proposed restrictions and recognises PSC’s pathway from learning to swim into competitive swimming.

Read Early Day Motion 778: Penrith Swimming Club⁠:  https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/66517

The public campaign has also attracted more than 2,300 petition signatures.

Brown said:

“It is significant that our MP’s motion in Parliament specifically recognises the role Penrith Swimming Club played in fundraising towards the Frenchfield Teaching Pool.

“This isn’t about claiming ownership of a publicly owned pool. It is about recognising what generations of volunteers and families helped build for Penrith and protecting that legacy for the future.”

“WE WANT A SOLUTION”

GLL has apologised for the way the situation was initially handled and acknowledged that mistakes were made. PSC welcomes that progress and the more constructive discussions now taking place.

However, the underlying proposal affecting the Club’s introductory provision remains.

PSC says the solution is straightforward: formalise its use of the Frenchfield Teaching Pool, allow PSC and GLL provision to coexist, preserve family choice and grow swimming participation.

Brown concluded:

“We don’t want a fight. We want a solution.

“Allow GLL to grow its programme and allow Penrith Swimming Club to retain the beginning of ours. There is room for both.

“Our community helped fund the Frenchfield Teaching Pool. More than 30 years later it continues to provide opportunities and generate revenue. Our Club continues to contribute around £40,000 every year in pool hire.

“Surely the answer isn’t to prevent Penrith Swimming Club using the Frenchfield Teaching Pool for the pathway our community helped create. The answer is to formalise our use and find a way for both programmes to thrive.”

“The best way to honour what those members did isn’t simply to keep their plaque on the wall.

It is to keep the pathway they helped create alive in the water beneath it.”

The club urges the community to sign the petition: https://c.org/m2TsDfc9P7