save_our_pool
Campaign to save Beccles Outdoor Swimming Pool from permanent closure.

Beccles Outdoor Pool
Puddingmoor, Beccles, Suffolk.
Tel: 01502 713297

Beccles swimming pool was built in 1959 and is a traditional, outdoor heated swimming pool situated by the river Waveney.

There is a large 33m x 16m swimming pool with a deep end of 12ft!

There is an adjacent toddler pool and baby pool, with an extensive grass area ideal for sunbathing.

Snacks, cold drinks and ice creams are available from the sales kiosk.

The pool is open this year from 26th May to early September.

It is open 7 days a week but this could be the last season the pool will remain open!

Waveney District Council currently run the pool and have stated that they will close the pool permanently once a site has been acquired for a new indoor leisure centre.

Lido’s are making a timely comeback as climate change makes its presence felt and British summer’s heat up, once derelict pools in London are now being reopened. Why then is Waveney District council being allowed to get away with closing such a valuable ‘liquid’ asset?

In 2006 a group of people got together and formed The Friends of Beccles Outdoor Pool to stop the closure of the outdoor pool. We feel that it is a valuable resource for the community that should not be lost. We are not opposed to the building of an indoor pool, we want to persuade the council that an outdoor pool has a different function to that of an indoor pool.

• The outdoor pool is a community resource, providing a meeting place for the youth and old alike. In particular the youth, who need a meeting place and an outdoor pool, provides such a place.

• Importantly it is a supervised facility thus providing a safe place for children to go throughout the summer months (and long summer holidays!)

• With good planning and appropriate investment it could be a real asset to the town, one that could help keep Beccles market town unique.

• The Government is keen to promote fitness and is worried about the increase in obesity in the young, closure of the pool is not going to help keep the youth fit.

• Global warming is regarded as fact not fiction and as the summers get warmer who will want to be inside rather than outside in the sun?

• Children spend more and more time indoors on computers and play stations, the outdoor pool gives them the opportunity of being in the fresh air all summer at very little cost.

• Where will the youth of the town go during the summer if the pool is closed? During peak times swimming at leisure centres is usually time restricted so consider where are kids going to go after the session has ended?

The council have informed us that if the community wish to buy the site and run it for ourselves we need to raise around £250,000, minimum. We are embarking on a campaign to raise the funds to buy the site from the council in order to save it from closure.

We are looking for support from local businesses & residents of the area, both financial or help in kind, expertise in fund raising, web design, publicity and so on. Anyone who wishes to help our campaign in any way should contact:

www.beccleslido.com