Funding needed to secure pool’s future

Clevedon School urgently needs funding to secure the future of its swimming pool.

For several years, Clevedon School’s swimming pool has been considered a vital asset to help teach young children to swim and build confidence.

The school now needs help from the wider business community to help cover the costs of maintaining the pool, and estimates they will need to raise $240,000 to cover costs over the next 10 years.

Blair Sneddon, a member of the Clevedon School Community Pool Committee, said that there are some hefty costs involved, and unfortunately, close to 50 per cent of school pools have been forced to close due to financial pressures.

“It’s just the nature of the beast, pools were originally built in state schools, and they were used for learning to swim, and water safety. Obviously, society has changed, and there’s pressure on budgets and things like that.

“The ability to keep those school pools running has reduced significantly, and as I say, they’re just expensive beasts to run and maintain.

“You can obviously go to a jetty and jump into the water there, but it’s not a controlled environment, and a controlled environment comes with running and maintenance costs.”

Despite the large amount of money needed, Sneddon is confident that the school will be able to raise enough to keep the pool going.

“We believe that our business community will see the social responsibility we all need to play in keeping such a vital community asset operating long term.”