Reopening date for Birtley Swimming Pool
Birtley’s swimming pool will reopen next month after a huge fundraising effort to save it surpassed its target.
The pool has been closed for more than a year after falling victim to Gateshead Council budget cuts, but is now under community management and will be relaunched to the public as Birtley Community Aquatic Centre (BCAC) on Monday, September 9.
A final crowdfunding drive was launched last month to try and secure the final £10,000 of local donations needed to get the pool open again and ensure that its new trustees can access a £272,000 grant awarded from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund (COF).
That fundraising target was met late last week and the new bosses at the Durham Road centre are now making the final preparations for the pool’s highly-anticipated return.
The biggest task for the local swimming clubs who have taken control of the site from the council has been the costly installation of new boilers which heat the pool, which have now been installed and are working successfully.
The centre’s pothole-covered car park has been resurfaced, security doors have been fitted, and new LED lighting installed throughout the building.
In exciting news for local families, the pool’s water slide has been refurbished too – a move which the BCAC team hope will help bring more people back to the centre, with more family-oriented attractions to come in the next couple of weeks.
BCAC treasurer Matthew Grant told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The council closed the slide about a year before the pool itself and decided that they were not going to fix it. So it will be exciting to have it back and I think it will look really eye-catching when people come in.
“The other key attraction is that we are just about to buy our inflatable obstacle course, which will be something else for the kids’ fun sessions of a weekend.
“We are expecting a lot of demand for those from the kids in Birtley and from beyond.
“There will also be some soft play equipment for our community room. That means that when swimming lessons are happening in the evening, parents who are there watching can take the younger siblings and let them loose in the soft play to keep them entertained.
“Those are really key changes for us and things that Gateshead Council did not have before.
“They are real positives to get local people back – and we don’t just want the people who came before, we want to attract new people who didn’t swim here previously to come and give it a try and to keep coming.”
In total, more than £380,000 of funding has been sought to try and reopen the centre.
A previous crowdfunding campaign last autumn generated £23,000 thanks to the generous support of the Birtley community and local businesses, while Sport England has committed £18,000.
Ahead of the grand reopening on September 9, a soft launch will be staged the week before for swimming clubs and staff training.
Ten local schools have already confirmed that they will be using the pool for swimming classes, while Sunderland-based swim school Swim City has been signed up to run lessons from the centre.
The pool’s timetable has also been released – with time allocated for aquafit sessions, public swimming, and lane swimming every day, as well as for family swimming and children’s activities at the weekend.
Birtley pool was closed in July 2023 at the same time as Gateshead Leisure Centre, which has also been transferred into community ownership and reopened earlier this summer.