Campaigners who are striving to reopen Kyle’s fire-damaged swimming pool were buoyed by a grant award of £25,000, as they launched a major crowdfunder this week.
Lochalsh and Skye Swimming Pool Association received the award from the Highland Council’s Community Led Local Development fund, part of the Community Regeneration Fund programme.
The community-owned swimming pool and leisure centre has been shut since the start of the year after an electrical fire caused substantial damage to the Douglas Park building.
Trustees and supporters are now embarking on a fundraising drive, both to help meet the costs of upgrading work and to secure the facility’s future viability.
Opened over 30 years ago to ensure children in Kyle and district could learn to swim at an early age, the pool is much-valued in the community.
During the closure, people have come forward to share memories of their pool and the great experiences they have had there, underlining the importance of the centre.
UPGRADE
Paul Wood, interim chairman of the board of trustees, said: “The trustees are delighted our grant application to the Community Regeneration Fund has been successful; it’s a show of faith in our efforts to reopen the pool and a timely boost in our fundraising efforts.
“The money will allow us to undertake essential upgrade work and source some much-needed admin help for the months ahead.”
However Mr Wood explained: “We thank the council for this show of support, but the trustees are aware the charity running the pool needs further financial backing in the form of community donations and, just as importantly, renewed memberships.
“The annual Kyleakin to Kyle swim last weekend was our first fundraising event since the fire and looks on course to raise well over £17,000 – this is an amazing effort from the 21 swimmers and has totally blown us away, but we will need more going forward.
The ‘Let’s Pool Together’ crowdfunder was launched at a public meeting in Kyle Hall on Thursday, where the the community was asked renew their memberships, volunteer and help raise a target of £40,000.
Mr Wood added: “It’s an ambitious target, but our aim in being ambitious is to make the facility more resilient and secure its future well into the next decade.”
After the public meeting the leisure centre, which is now seeking to recruit a new full-time manager, posted an appeal on social media.
It said: “Thank you to everyone who attended our meeting tonight and for everyone who has got us to the stage we can think about our reopening.
“We have four specific asks of help to get us over the line:
- Support our Crowdfunder – Let’s Pool Together. This will pay for upgrades and add to the fantastic efforts of our K2K swimmers. You can do this here;
www.justgiving.com/campaign/pooltogetherforlochalshleisure
- Renew your membership of the Leisure Centre, by emailing highlife@highlifehighland.com and they will start this process for you (please quote you old membership number). This will pay for the staff we recruit, the woodchip we buy and the electricity we use.
- Volunteer. We need volunteers across a whole range of skills, but mostly, we need volunteers to help fundraise and form a “Friends of Lochalsh Leisure” group to support the work we do. If you can help, message here or email manager@lochalshleisure.uk with your details and we will get back to you.
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Last weekend, as part of the Kyle Maritime Day festivities for the RNLI, 21 swimmers took on the challenge between the two slipways at Kyleakin and Kyle to try and raise funds to repair and re-open the leisure centre.
First home, in an impressive 14 minutes exactly, was Catherine Fowler from Kyleakin.
James Scott was second in 14:29, with Gary Lory third (14.42). Erica Fowler (15.52) made it a family double with her winning sister, while the top six was completed by Andrew Mahon (16.04) and Alison Baker (16.30).
A selection of more images from the swim, as captured by Free Press photographer Willie Urquhart, are featured below….
Article by Jackie MacKenzie