Fundraising campaign to begin as Bourne End swimming pool granted planning permission

Swimmers could be making waves in Bourne End after planning permission for a new pool was given the go-ahead.

The ‘state of the art’ pool was granted approval in August and Bourne End Junior Sports Club made a public announcement through their monthly newsletter in October.

With planning permission granted for the facility, on land next to Bourne End Academy and the existing club sports hall, there was now a ‘daunting’ fundraising campaign ahead.

Trustee director at Bourne End Junior Sports Club, Liz Hutton, said:

“It’s brilliant news, swimming has always been one of the things we’ve offered but we’ve had to hire pool time at other sites which is expensive and of course, it isn’t local.

“It’s been one of our aims for a long time.”

The club collaborated with Neil Bailey Swimming in planning the pool and Liz said it could be used by nearly a thousand children a week.

Liz said there was a hope that lessons there could ‘help save lives’, highlighting numbers of young people that had lost their lives in the River Thames.

She added: “It’s so important for children to learn to swim. Not just because of safety but also for the physical benefits.”

The facility will feature one six lane 25m pool, a 4 lane 10m pool and be kitted out with technology such as underwater viewing cameras, to help swimmers improve their stroke.

In addition, it is expected to feature specially adapted lights and sound proofing material to prevent white noise to make it more friendly to disabled children.

Since planning permission had been granted, Liz said the challenge now was to begin a fundraising campaign to get ‘spades in the ground.’

Liz said: “It’s very exciting for the club but obviously somewhat daunting now because we are guessing that the original expectation of £5.2 million has gone up. We would welcome anyone who can come forward and help us.”

Anybody intersted in helping the fundraising efforts can email the club at ‘office@bejsc.co.uk’ or call: 01628 528110