Marathon boost for inclusive swimming

Swim England is to receive a £750,000 boost towards creating inclusive swimming environments for people with long-term health conditions, disabilities and rehabilitation needs.

The cash has come from the London Marathon Charitable Trust and will allow Swim England and its partners – the Activity Alliance, Community Leisure UK and GLL – to enhance the swimming provision at 20 pools through training, accessible pool sessions and environmental changes.

It will also fund the use of PoolPods, a submersible platform which provides dignified access to the water.

Jane Nickerson, Swim England CEO, said: “We’re delighted to be awarded this grant to develop inclusive pools so that more people with long-term health conditions and disabilities can benefit from water-based exercise.

“We know that people with long-term health conditions or disabilities can face barriers in accessing pools and swim sessions that meet their needs. We’ll be using this funding to tackle those challenges, alongside our partners the Activity Alliance, GLL and Community Leisure UK.

“We have an enormous opportunity to support the health and wellbeing of the nation through water-based activity and we’re very grateful to the London Marathon Charitable Trust for helping us to make swimming more inclusive.”

More people active

Swim England is one of six large-scale projects across the UK to receive funding from the London Marathon Charitable Trust to get more people active and take part in swimming, cycling, football, running and outdoor exercise classes such as yoga, boxing, and basketball.

Elaine McNish, Head of Health and Wellbeing at Swim England, said: “This fantastic investment from the London Marathon Charitable Trust means we can work with partners across 20 swimming pools to create accessible, high quality experiences for all customers.

“We’ll use bespoke training, environmental adaptions and tailored support materials to provide inclusive swim options so that more people with long-term health conditions, disabilities or injuries feel supported to join in and experience the health benefits of swimming and water-based exercise for themselves.”

This is the biggest ever national funding programme from The Trust.

Sir Rodney Walker, Chair of the London Marathon Charitable Trust, said: “The long-term health and wellbeing of the population is at serious risk due to the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles.

“Our new strategy enables us to reach all four corners of the country by partnering with organisations that are skilled at inspiring more people to reap the enormous physical and mental health benefits that activity provides.”