More than 2,200 people back 145-year-old club as questions remain over GLL's reported 10–12 week monitoring and the role of potential revenue
A battle over the future of children's swimming lessons in Penrith is developing into a wider national story after more than 20 swimming clubs and swimming representatives contacted Penrith Swimming Club with similar experiences or concerns.
The development comes as more than 2,200 people have signed a petition supporting the volunteer-run club's campaign to protect its established Learn to Swim provision at Penrith Leisure Centre.
What began as a local disagreement is now raising wider questions about the relationship between community swimming clubs and leisure operators, particularly where a club's beginner programme could potentially attract children who might otherwise pay for an operator's own lessons.
From 10–12 weeks of monitoring to an ultimatum
Penrith Swimming Club says it was unaware that concerns were being raised about its provision until it was contacted by GLL, which operates Penrith Leisure Centre.
Information subsequently supplied by GLL to Westmorland & Furness Council stated that:
“Over a period of 10 to 12 weeks, GLL monitored pool usage”
PSC says it was not approached about the concerns during that reported monitoring period.
Then, on 1 August, the club received an email 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.”
The club regarded the instruction as an ultimatum.
However, Westmorland & Furness Council has subsequently said discussions remain ongoing and that no final decision has been made.
PSC says those differing messages have left a volunteer committee responsible for a 145-year-old organisation in limbo.
A club spokesperson said:
“One minute we were being told our Learn to Swim provision would not be authorised to continue. We are now being told that no final decision has been made.
“We welcome the opportunity to find a solution, but we need clarity. We cannot responsibly plan the future of a 145-year-old club indefinitely without knowing whether the original ultimatum still stands.”
PSC says it has made nearly seven separate requests for information or clarification about the review and monitoring which preceded the proposal.
GLL has provided the club with some information. Its latest explanation says PSC's Learn to Swim activity was “subsequently verified by the centre Duty Manager team.”
But the club says it has still not received a full explanation of what was monitored throughout the reported 10 to 12 weeks, what records were produced or how the additional operational and lifeguarding costs subsequently reported to the Council were calculated.
“If GLL had concerns about what we were doing, why wasn't the first step simply to speak to us?
“Nobody needed weeks of monitoring to discover that Penrith Swimming Club teaches children to swim. We have been doing it openly for generations.
“After repeated requests, we still want to see the evidence behind the findings that were presented to the Council.”
GLL's latest written explanation says PSC's programme involves children who “may otherwise attend the centre's Learn to Swim programme.”
PSC believes this raises a significant question about whether children choosing the community swimming club are being viewed as potential customers and therefore potential revenue for GLL's own programme.
A spokesperson said:
“This increasingly appears to come down to potential revenue.
“These are children choosing to join a community swimming club, not simply potential customers for somebody else's programme.
“If there is evidence that our provision is actually damaging GLL's programme, we are willing to look at it. But we have not yet been shown evidence quantifying that impact.”
National picture beginning to emerge
Since taking its campaign public, PSC says more than 20 swimming clubs and people connected with clubs around the country have made contact about their own experiences or concerns.
Accounts received include clubs reporting restrictions on teaching beginners, loss of access to teaching pools, having to relocate Learn to Swim provision and concerns about the financial consequences of losing the beginning of their pathway.
Some accounts concern GLL-operated facilities while others involve different leisure operators.
PSC stresses that the circumstances are not identical and individual accounts are being checked. It has now begun compiling the evidence into a national evidence pack.
Importantly, the experiences are not all negative. Some clubs have described eventually reaching workable arrangements with operators involving defined referral points, phased transitions or financial protections.
PSC believes that strengthens its argument that there is no reason an imposed one-size-fits-all solution should be the starting point in Penrith.
“We genuinely thought this was a Penrith issue.
“The response from swimming clubs elsewhere has surprised us. There are clearly much bigger questions here about what happens to volunteer clubs when their pathway comes into conflict with the commercial sustainability of operator-run swimming lessons.
“Some of the experiences also demonstrate that operators and clubs can find solutions when they actually sit down and work together.”
“We aren't asking for GLL's lessons to stop”
PSC says there is a straightforward solution.
The club is not asking for GLL's Learn to Swim programme to stop.
It wants both programmes to coexist, allowing families to choose while maintaining a pathway from learning to swim into Development, competitive swimming, Masters swimming, water polo, coaching and volunteering.
If the concern is the historic nature of bookings or arrangements surrounding use of the learner pool, PSC says it is prepared to formalise them through an appropriate written agreement.
“This doesn't need to be a battle between GLL and Penrith Swimming Club.
“We want their programme to succeed too.
“Formalise the arrangements. Agree responsibilities. Protect both programmes. Give families a choice.
“After everything that has happened, there is still one question we have not heard a convincing answer to: what evidence-based reason means the two programmes cannot coexist?”
Public support for PSC's campaign has now passed 2,200 signatures, while Penrith Town Council has formally backed the continuation of the club's Learn to Swim provision alongside GLL's programme.
PSC is urging people to continue signing while discussions over the club's future continue.
“More than 2,200 people have already stood behind us. That is an incredible demonstration of what this club means to the community.
“But this isn't resolved.
Sign the Save Penrith Swimming Club petition https://goto.penrith.town/save-our-swimming-club-save-penrith-swimming-club-s-learn-to-swim-provision
Then select "Add to Home Screen"
