Cheltenham lido given more than £300k to "keep it open"
It's hoped the English Sports Council funding will alleviate cost pressures
Cheltenham’s Sandford Lido will be getting a funding boost of more than £306,000 to improve energy efficiency which will help “keep the facility open”.
The English Sports Council set aside funding to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities with pools to help alleviate cost pressures and mitigate the risk of closures of public sector swimming pools.
In 2023, the Government made £80 million available for public swimming pool providers.
The funding was distributed in two phases with the second phase allocating £60 million to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities with pools to help alleviate costs pressures and mitigate the risk of closures of public sector swimming pools.
A phase two application was made by Cheltenham Borough Council in October 2023 and they have been successful in their bid for funding for the Lido and have been awarded £306,065.
Finance and assets cabinet member Alisha Lewis (LD, Oakley) said the council had been able to secure this “fantastic bit of funding”.
“Sandford Park Lido is a spectacular site right in the heart of our town and it, like every other swimming pool in the country, is facing significant budgetary pressures because the cost of everything is going up, particularly energy,” she said at the cabinet meeting on June 11.
“We are really excited to be accepting some money from the swimming pool support fund, £306,000 to support some exciting retrofitting of clean energy projects on site.
“It’s absolutely essential that this money is pumped into the lido at this time because it is what is going to be able to keep their doors open and keep the building running.”
The Sports Council has asked the council to enter into two grant agreements; the overarching capital grant agreement, between the Sports Council as funder and the council as applicant, and a grant adherence agreement between the Sports Council as funder, the council as applicant and Sandford Parks Lido as facility owner.