Prince William hails benefits of swimming as he praises trustees at community pool

Swim England patron Prince William has hailed the benefits of swimming as he praised a team of passionate trustees for their efforts to reopen a community pool.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visited the newly-opened Birtley Community Pool, in Tyne and Wear.

The pool, which was previously known as the Birtley Swim Centre, was closed by Gateshead Council in July 2023 due to increased energy and operational costs.

However, local volunteers set up the charitable organisation, Birtley Community Aquatic Centre (BCAC), with the aim to reopen the pool as a not-for-profit venture. 

The community supported efforts to achieve that goal, with residents contributing to a Crowdfunding campaign and local businesses and tradespeople contributing time and resources to help to refurbish the facilities.

It reopened on 16 September and it is anticipated that 16,000 people per month will now participate in swimming activities at the pool, including 6,500 children.

Prince William said the work of the trustees could be replicated across the country in a bid to see more communities reopen pools.

Praising the chair of the trustees, Yvonne Probert, he said: “You’re not just any local sort of person – you’re a a serious local leader and today wouldn’t have happened without you, Yvonne.

Swimming is important

“It’s so important that we have someone like Yvonne who people can rally around and they become the glue of the community. When they put their minds to it, they get things done.

“I think everyone around the country wants to better themselves and have a better community and get the things they want.

“But without somebody to lead it, without somebody to rally around, it’s very hard to coordinate it and make it happen.

“You’re very humble and do yourself a disservice, Yvonne, about how little part you play.

“But you played a huge part with all your team to get this up and running.

“What I love today is understanding how passionate everyone is here about the local swimming pool because many of you have got fond memories of growing up here and swimming here and that doesn’t happen everywhere.

“That connection is really important and I know everyone here has got a passion for swimming and appreciate it.

“Having a passion to where you learn how to swim when you’re a child shows what we’re trying to do really matters.

“The next generation need to know that swimming is important. It can save your life. It’s a great skill. It’s fun. It’s good for your health. It’s good for social reasons. It’s good for not being isolated.

Totally possible

“All these things are really important and why we need community swimming pools to remain and to come back to life again.

“So that’s why the Royal Foundation are so keen to support all the work that you’ve done, Yvonne, and make sure that we can replicate this and use the model you guys have produced to help more communities around the country find that they can save their swimming pool.

“Actually, with the right people, the right energy, the right time and the right support, this sort of thing is totally possible.

“So, Yvonne, well done to you and your team.”

Birtley Community Aquatic Centre received significant support from the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

• Through its Community Impact Programme, the Royal Foundation has also:
• Provided funding to support the reopening and meet refurbishment costs at the pool
• Helped local primary schools and young people to make use of the facilities, with a bursary for schools to subsidise the cost of swimming lessons for their pupils
• Established a bursary for local primary and secondary schools to enable local teenagers to train as lifeguards
• Supported a Community Outreach Officer role to be recruited who will maximise children’s participation in swimming, with a focus on children in years 2 and 3
• Supported Birtley Community Pool’s Trustees to expand their network of supporters including leaders within the swimming sector and brands such as Swim England and Speedo, who subsequently made a charitable donation, providing swimming merchandise for young people using the pool.

During his visit, Prince William observed a school swimming lesson at the pool, spoke to trustees from the Birtley Community Aquatic Centre,watched a lifeguard training session and also met Olympic and Paralympic champions Tom Dean, Adam Peaty, Louise Fiddes and Maisie Summers-Newton.

He also joined a workshop run by The Royal Foundation, which has convened groups from the swimming and sports sectors, including Swim England, to discuss the different ways to increase swimming opportunities across the United Kingdom.