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Sunday, 22 November 2009

Newsroom

20m eligible for free swimming

  • Published: Tuesday, 31 March 2009

From 1 April, children under 16 and people over 60 can enjoy free swimming at over a thousand swimming pools across England. Roughly 20 million people will be eligible for the scheme and will be allowed to use pools in other areas if their own council is not taking part.

Swim for free

A bigger splash

Find out whether your council is offering free swimming.

Four out of every five local councils in England have signed up to provide free swimming for over 60s, with more than 200 also offering it to young people.

As part of the scheme:

  • councils that are providing free swimming for both age groups have already been allocated £10 million to improve their local facilities
  • a £50 million capital fund is being made available to councils to modernise existing facilities or help build new ones in 2009/10 and 2010/11
  • a national network of swimming experts is being recruited to work with participating councils to promote interest in swimming and increase participation
  • one hundred thousand free swimming lessons are being offered to non-swimmers

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said: "We have worked with local councils of all political persuasions to seize the opportunity – and many of them are joining us in making a significant financial contribution to ensure its success.

"This scheme has caught the mood of the times.  It will help young and old keep active and save cash.  It is our hope that this is just the beginning and that in time free swimming becomes the norm."

Council sports facilities

Find council-run sports and leisure centres in your area.

The new scheme

It is up to local councils how they administer the scheme. The guidance is that:

  1. people aged 16 or under and 60 or over must be able to swim at a time and place when they would normally expect to swim. This means councils cannot restrict free swimming to certain days or time slots. The only exception to this is that people aged 16 and under cannot swim during school hours of state schools
  2. local authorities cannot restrict free swimming to their own residents. Those eligible but covered by a council not participating in the scheme can swim for free by visiting a facility run by a council that is taking part in the scheme
  3. local authorities may ask for ID to prove age each time a ‘free swimmer’ visits one of their pools. Councils may also issue a special card to be presented on every visit. They may make a nominal one-off charge to cover its cost

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