Settle Area Swimming Pool

Settle Swimming Pool is facing a major financial crisis after it was denied funding from the £20 million the government set aside to help public swimming pools across England cope with what it called ‘challenging financial pressures’.

Whilst 196 pools received grants of as much as £300,000 in some cases, none of the 18 pools in North Yorkshire received any contribution.

In the absence of this public funding, Settle pool is now having to take drastic measures in order to keep afloat.

Full details of all new prices will be published on our website shortly. In a move to help regular users, a long term membership scheme is being introduced. This will give reduced rates for both swimming and fitspace sessions and a combination of both.

Trustees have also agreed to take urgent action to reduce staffing costs and other expenditure.

In a further move pool users and supporters are being asked to make regular individual donations to help ensure the pool can continue to function.

Longer term measures are also under consideration.

One of the reasons that Settle pool has, to date, coped better than some others has been the income from the charity shop, that has generated around £70,000 a year since it opened in 2017. But this is no longer adequate to cope with rising costs, most significantly a gas bill that has gone up from just over £1,000 a month to around £7,000. In an effort to raise income from this source the trustees are seeking further volunteers to help staff a second ‘pop-up ‘ shop that recently opened in the centre of Settle. As shop organiser Anne Galloway, who was recently named North Yorkshire volunteer of the year said: “We are getting plenty of donations, including some high value items, but we need more volunteers to help with sales, both on line and through our shops.”
Behind all these action there is frustration with the lack of support from government and Sport England.

As pool treasurer Rosie Sanderson explained to the November meeting of the trustees, “When the pool was facing financial difficulties a few years ago it was Sport England that told us the only way to go was to undertake a major expansion, including a new dry area. We followed their advice and have coped with unforeseen challenges as Covid and storm damage leading to temporary closure, but now when we need urgently help we are denied support.”

Settle will be seeking an explanation from Sport England about why they were denied aid from the Swimming Pool Support Fund despite appearing to meet the three criteria set out in the press release announcing the grants from the scheme.

Sport England said pools and leisure centres were selected “based on their risk of closure, the proximity to other swimming pools providing public swimming, and the level of demand for the facility.”

Settle Pool chair Colin Coleman said: “There is only one other public pool within twenty miles of Settle. We offer a wide range of sessions for all ages as well as public swimming and school swimming and it is now clear that without urgent action there is a real danger that the pool will have to close. It makes no sense for us to be denied funding when pools closer to other facilities, offering fewer services and operating in less challenging environments have been given substantial amounts of public funding. We want to know why.”

Settle Pool is now connected to the world’s fastest rural broadband.

Customers can get free wi-fi access simply by scanning the QR code on the noticeboard at the pool café or by logging on to the network using the password ‘swimming’.

It's clear from the photo how happy our Centre Manager Tash Ward is with the new internet connection.

The link to Broadband for Rural Networks - B4RN - was made in mid-November when a fibre optic cable was laid under the fields between the pool and the nearby hamlet of Stackhouse - the nearest  point where B4RN was already installed.

Pool staff are now using B4RN for all back office work. This includes monitoring progress on children's swim lessons, processing customer accounts and taking payments, and managing content for our social media feeds, booking system and website.

B4RN - pronounced barn - is a community benefit society, established in 2011 to bring world-leading full fibre broadband speeds to underserved rural areas . It has won numerous awards and featured in media reports highlighting the fact that remote rural areas served by B4RN can match broadband speeds normally only found in places like the financial districts of big cities. It began in North  East Lancashire is now spreading into the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria.

You can read more about B4RN on https://b4rn.org.uk/

Settle Pool trustee Anne Galloway has been named North Yorkshire volunteer of the year.

Anne received her award from North Yorkshire council chair Coun. David Ireton, at a ceremony in Harrogate, organised by the council, to recognise the contribution that the community organisations and volunteers make to life across the county.

Alongside the award the pool will receive a £1,000 cash donation.

A video made by the council’s communications team highlights Anne’s role as the inspiration behind the pool charity shop.

https://youtu.be/wsm5zb-ZyS0

The shop has played a crucial role in the transformation of Settle pool at a time when many other public swimming pools across the country have been forced to close as a result of soaring costs and reduced public funding.

It was seven years ago on a visit to Kirkcudbright in Scotland that Anne saw how the local community swimming pool was able to finance itself by running a charity shop. She persuaded Settle pool supporters to follow this example and after a great deal of work behind the scenes the pool shop opened in May 2017.
Since then it has generated a steady flow of income for the pool. This has made possible the major redevelopment work completed just over a year ago and has gone some way towards off-setting soaring energy bills. Recently a second pop up shop has opened to sell the larger and more expensive items that have been given by generous local supporters.

Anne has been a pool trustee since 2013. In addition to her role in developing the charity shop and now the new pop up shop, she leads the trustee’s group on staff development. Over the past year she has devoted a great deal of time to helping see through the staff changes resulting from the expansion of the pool to include the new dry space area, known as fitSpace, and the creation of enhanced catering facilities.

Anne said: “Whilst I am delighted to receive this award, all the work that I have put in would have meant nothing without the efforts of our other trustees, volunteers and the pool staff. The continuing success of Settle pool is based around the commitment shown by the whole community and not least those who donate and buy from our charity shops. The award really belongs to all of them.”

Colin Coleman chair of the pool trustees said: “Anne is 100 per cent committed to the pool. I am sure she spends more time here and at the charity shop than she does at home. She richly deserves the accolade of North Yorkshire volunteer of the year.”

The full story about all awards from North Yorkshire Council is here:

https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-north-yorkshire/we-put-unsung-heroes-spotlight-awards-ceremony?utm_campaign=2640476_YNY%20November%202023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=North%20Yorksshire%20Council&dm_i=4BPJ,1KLEK,4ZBY4A,7CT9R,1

Our local newspaper the Craven Herald has the story too here

The pool now has a new ‘pop-up’ shop. You’ll find it next to the Royal Oak in the narrow section of the road through the centre of Settle.

It is currently open 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays but hours might be extended as time goes by.

The new shop sells larger and more expensive items that cannot be accommodated in the existing premises in Duke Street.  Previously these donations would have been sold online, but the new premises mean that they can now be offered to our supporters who prefer to shop in person.

To date the shop has done a roaring trade, generating many more bargains for shoppers and much needed income for the pool at a time when we are continuing to face sky high energy bills..

It also means that we now have more space in the two containers that receive donations in the pool car park on Tuesday and Friday mornings (9.30am- 12.30pm).

The success of the shop is of course entirely dependent on generous donations by our supporters and the dedicated team of volunteers who sort items and staff both our shops.