Our proposal has been rejected :(

At a Policy Committee meeting on Monday 10 April, Reading Borough Council rejected the CIC proposal for a project to reopen Arthur Hill Pool at least until a permanent replacement at Palmer Park is available. Cllr. Gittings, lead member for leisure, declared he was “sympathetic” to the campaigners but doubted the financial sustainability of the venture.  He repeated the claim that it would cost £700,000 to fully repair the facility, which, according to Council records, had been losing £100,000 a year (both figures which the CIC have questioned). “We would”, he said, “be giving dedicated and hard-working people false hope if we delay this application. It is too reliant on grant funding and we know all too well how difficult it is for councils to access these types of funds.” Cllr. Gittings again committed to the opening of a new swimming pool at Palmer Park by 2020. 

This is clearly a major setback for the CIC and our goal to reopen Arthur Hill pool and gym.  However we continue to investigate other options to saved Arthur Hill as well as other initiatives to provide sport and leisure activities for the community of East Reading.  Check this website and our facebook page for updates.

Last chance to re-open Arthur Hill Pool?

In September 2016 Reading Borough Council announced, out of the blue, that they would be closing Arthur Hill Swimming Pool at Cemetery Junction.  Despite tooth and nail opposition to the Council from local residents, the pool closed in December.

However, the story isn’t over yet.  Before Christmas we raised £10,000 to prepare a business plan for a community take-over of Arthur Hill Pool.  We’ve set up a community interest company to run the baths and have now put together a plan for running the pool.  The Council will make a decision on whether or not to accept our proposal at a meeting at the Council Offices on Monday 10th April.

We need your help for the meeting on 10th April.  If our plan is to succeed, we will need not only the Council’s approval, but also their assistance and a promise to use windfall cash they will obtain from a new housing development near Cemetery Junction to repair the pool.  If we are to succeed in re-opening Arthur Hill Pool we will need your support in the following ways:

• Please email your local councillors and ask them to support the community proposal to re-open the pool which will be discussed by the Policy Committee on 10th April.  You can find contact details for your councillors here.
• Please join us at 6.00 pm on Monday 10th April at the Reading Borough Council Offices in Bridge Street (opposite House of Fraser) to demonstrate to local councillors that there is still strong support for re-opening Arthur Hill.
• Please join the Arthur Hill – Save Our Swimming Community Interest Company as a member to show your support for our work and have your say in future decisions.

This is likely to be our last chance to re-open the pool – so let’s make the most of it.

Arthur Hill SOS Community Interest Company AGM

On Thursday 2 March, we held our first Annual General Meeting (AGM). We updated local residents on the progress we have made so far and presented Arthur Awards to all the people who have worked hard to try to save Arthur Hill pool and gym. We also held a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses.

We were very grateful and pleased to see how many people showed up – the room in the Warehouse was full to capacity and it was a great demonstration that the local community remains passionate about Arthur Hill pool and gym. Thanks to everyone who came – and thanks also to Mrs Kakar for providing the amazing curry!

Date for diary – Reading Borough Council will be making a decision about whether to accept our Community Bid on 10 April. Please make your views known by emailing Councillors, spreading the word and coming along to the meeting.

Progress so far
Chris Beales, the Chair of the Directors, updated local residents on the progress we have made so far. Despite Reading Council’s closure of the pool on 18 December, we still managed to raise over £10,000 – smashing our target. We successfully set up a new Community Interest Company (CIC), as agreed at the community meeting on 17 November 2016. We named the company ‘Arthur Hill Save Our Swimming (SOS)’ and appointed an initial Board of Directors. We’ve also created a business plan which we’ve submitted to Reading Council, set up a working group of 14 people and launched our new website.

The immediate aims of the new company are to keep Arthur Hill open at least until the new pool opens in Palmer Park; to work with Reading Council; to coordinate raising money for the pool; to establish a 3-5 year business plan and to promote swimming and sport in East Reading.

We’re busy recruiting new members – lifetime membership costs just £1 and will ensure the community is shaping and guiding the company. You can join by contacting us at  arthur.hill.pool@gmail.com

You can read the full AGM presentation, including details on our accounts, business plan and full company objectives, on the website under News and Documents – Progress Updates.

Arthur Awards
By the miracle of time travel, Alderman Arthur Hill was present at the meeting to award certificates to campaigners and prizes to lucky raffle winners. Full details of the award winners below.

Thanks to everyone who donated raffle prizes and to all the people who have worked so hard to support the campaign to save Arthur Hill pool and gym. Thanks also to Phil, aka Alderman Arthur Hill, and Peter who gave out the prizes.

Best pool attendant- Joint winners: all pool attendants including Steve, Danny, Omari, Luke, Aaron, Sam, Stu and casual workers

Best fitness instructors – Joint winners: all instructors including Amanda, Bob, Martin, Don

Best swimming teacher – Melanie Prendiville

Fastest circuit challenge (male) – Mick Brookner

Fastest circuit challenge (female) – Lena

Longest continuous centre user – Phil 

Young hero – Evan Herath, for arranging for St Johns School to organise a non-uniform day to raise funds for our appeal

Hardest working fundraisers – Joint winners: Ashley Middlewick, for organising 10k fun run and the Chislett family, who swam their combined ages in lengths of Arthur Hill Pool to raise funds

‘Early bird catches the worm’ award for early morning swimming – Richard Wilson

Community award for clubs using the pool – Reading Dolphins swimming club for swimmers with disabilities.

Most inspirational character – Mark Marten, for regular attendance and hard work in spinning and circuits

Special award for persistence – Roger Lightfoot, for persistent questions to Reading Borough Council and regular letters to the papers about the pool

Special award for catering and fine food – Tom Lake, for preparing a special Arthur Hill Pool cake for 105th birthday evening

Best Dry Swim Challenge video – Gerard Stewart

Booby prize – Reading Borough Council, for closing the pool 🙂

 

Presentation to the Arthur Hill AGM – 2 March 2017

The presentation is here: 170302 AGM presentation

Arthur Hill community meeting and AGM

Our next community meeting will be taking place on Thursday 2 March at the Warehouse Centre in Cumberland Road.  We will be launching the new community interest company which has been set up to take forward work to reopen Arthur Hill Pool, and giving an update on progress with the campaign.As well as the business meeting, we will also be holding a fun ‘Arthur Awards’ ceremony to say thank you to some of the people who have made Arthur Hill Pool a special place.  Do please come along to see who our awards panel has chosen as the lucky winners!As usual, food will be provided (donation welcome), there will be a prize draw, and you will be able to become a member of the new Arthur Hill – Save Our Swimming community interest company. Admission is free and all friends and supporters are welcome to attend.7.00 pm – 10.00 pmThursday 2 March 2017Warehouse Centre, 1A Cumberland Road, Reading, RG1 3LB.

Arthur Hill SOS registered as a new company

Great news!  Our application to set up a new Community Interest Company to take over Arthur Hill Pool has now been accepted, and we are now a fully registered company and ready to go!  This is a significant milestone achieved in our programme to re-open the pool.  We are now working to prepare a business plan to give to Reading Borough Council later this month, and we will be organising another community meeting in a few weeks time to update people on what is happening.  More news soon – watch this space!

 

Thank you – we met our target

Thanks to your generosity, we have reached our Arthur Hill crowdfunding appeal target of £10,000 – ten days early!  We’re very grateful indeed to everyone who donated to us.  We will use the money to set up a new company to hopefully take over the pool, and prepare a business plan for running the pool.

As people are very kindly still giving to us, we’ve set a ‘stretch target’ to reach £12,000 by 31 December.  We will put any further money we receive towards a fund to start repair work which is needed on key structural features in the pool.  You can contribute by clicking on the donate button below.

Thank you very much for all your support, and have a super Christmas.

Crowdfunding December 2016 – The #DrySwimChallenge

We’d like to invite you to take our #DrySwimChallenge to help support the campaign to keep Arthur Hill Pool open! It’s a similar idea to the popular Ice Bucket Challenge and Mannequin Challenge – but with a swimming theme.  All you have to do is post a video or pictures on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram showing yourself ‘swimming’ on dry land to spread the message about crowdfunding appeal and encourage your friends and family to get involved.  When you upload your post, please also include a link to our Justgiving page – justgiving.com/crowdfunding/arthur-hill – and use the hashtag #DrySwimChallenge.  You can also make a donation to us if you like – it doesn’t have to be a lot of money and no amount is too small. Our crowdfunding appeal is now over halfway towards meeting its target of raising £10,000 by 31 December, but there’s still a long way to go.  The money raised will be used to prepare a business plan to keep the pool open, but if this proves not to be possible, it will be donated to schools in the Newtown area to allow local children to continue with swimming lessons.