The first steps to improve one of the district’s few indoor school swimming pools have been taken.
The Crockerne Community Pool Support Group (CCPSG) has now raised more than £37,000 towards its plans to turn the indoor summer pool at Crockerne Primary School, in Westward Drive, into an all-year-round facility.
The group has teamed up with Maurice Brain from the Pill Art Club to create an artist’s impression of what the new facilities are planned to look like.
The CCPSG, which is made up of parents and nearby residents, is fundraising to replace the present building with a structure and material which would allow people to swim throughout the year.
Group chairman Peter Stanley told the Times: “The pool is heated but to run it in the winter would cost a fortune because of the heat loss.
“The new structure will allow it to be open to everyone and would be a nice community asset.”
The parents carried out a door-to-door survey with residents to see if the new and improved facility would be used and more than 1,000 households confirmed their support.
It will now look to start applying for grants to boost its funding to help it reach its £100,000 target.
The team first began fundraising in mid-2016 and hopes to reach its interim target of £70,000 by the end of next year.
The pool was built 50 years ago at the school after a young boy drowned in the River Avon, which runs through the village.
Mr Stanley said: “It is ideal for learning to swim but also because it is small, private and convenient it is perfect for people with learning disabilities, the elderly and for nursing and care homes.
“We would run it by having groups so we can properly support it.
“The best thing is seeing little babies going swimming for the first time, the temperature in the pool is perfect and it is very quiet and it is a great way for children to gain confidence in the water.”
The pool is currently used nine hours a day for 16 weeks of the year and the CCPSG hopes to make headway in the next year in order to open it by Easter 2020.
The group is also looking at becoming a registered charity with the aim of entering a formal arrangement with North Somerset Council.
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