Starting January 7th 2025, we will be opening at 06:15am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
This change will provide an opportunity for working people to swim before they start work.
Our pool timetable will be updated with this change at the start of January 2025.
Aqua-Intro is a gentle form of AquaFit, joint-friendly workout that combines water-based movement and simple exercises to promote muscle toning and flexibility. Perfect for those looking for a lower-impact alternative to Aqua-Fit, this class is led by Jason Metcalfe, a qualified physiotherapist, and designed to improve mobility, balance, and endurance in a safe, supportive environment.
Using water’s buoyancy to reduce joint strain and its resistance to build strength, Aqua-Intro is an ideal option for beginners, those recovering from injuries, or anyone seeking a refreshing way to stay active.
Classes run every Thursday from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Join us for a great workout that also supports Birtley Community Pool!
Birtley Community Pool, Durham Rd, Birtley,
Chester-le-Street, DH3 2PA
Welcome to our latest news from Birtley Community Pool! Here’s a look at what’s new and how you can make the most of our recently reopened facility.
Birtley Community Pool is now open to the public! With newly refurbished facilities, we offer something for everyone, from family-friendly swims and fitness sessions to swimming lessons. No booking is needed—just drop by and enjoy the pool. We look forward to seeing you!
On October 3rd, we had the honour of hosting His Royal Highness, Prince William, along with Olympic and Paralympic champions Adam Peaty, Tom Dean, Maisie Summers-Newton, and Louise Fiddes. This event celebrated the pool’s reopening and showcased the vital role community pools play in promoting health and connection. Prince William praised the dedication of our community and our new partnership with the Royal Foundation, which will support essential swimming lessons and lifeguard training programs.
After a dedicated community effort, Birtley Community Pool officially reopened on September 16th, marking an exciting new chapter. We’re thrilled to welcome families, schools, and swimmers back to our refreshed facilities, and we extend our gratitude to everyone who helped make this possible.
Our special half-term timetable runs from October 28th to November 3rd and includes additional family sessions, inflatables, and water slide times. After half-term, our term-time schedule starts on November 4th and will run through December 23rd. Stop by reception or visit our website for details.
Starting next month, a trustee will be available at the pool every second Saturday from 10:30 to 11:30 am at reception to chat, answer questions, and hear your ideas. Drop by for a few minutes or stay for a walk around the pool!
To support our expanding programs, we’re seeking qualified lifeguards and volunteers:
We’re delighted to introduce Andrea Liversidge, who joined our team in September. Her Aquafit classes are a perfect mix of fitness and fun, so come experience them for yourself!
Birtley Community Pool, Durham Rd, Birtley,
Chester-le-Street, DH3 2PA
In August, Birtley Community Pool received £272,383 from the Community Ownership Fund. This has covered 80% of the capital needed to reopen the pool, including replacing the boiler, installing new LED lighting, water slide repairs, car park resurfacing, and security upgrades. £50,000 of this helped cover operating costs from May 31st to reopening in September.
We also exceeded our £20,000 Crowdfunding goal with £10,000 from Sport England, plus over £10,000 raised by the local community. Sport England’s contribution has helped fund part of the boiler replacement.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed, either by making a donation, buying a reward or donating a reward. We now have all the funding needed to reopen Birtley Community Pool!
Bailey Hooper and Michael Hume started working as our Duty Managers in early August. Six of our Leisure Attendants started on August 21st with more starting in the next two weeks.
Recruitment continued throughout August and we now have appointed another Duty Manager (part-time), and 14 Leisure Attendants, with 3 more appointments expected by opening.
We still have a few more vacancies for Leisure Attendants and anyone interested in applying can request the advert, job description and an application form by emailing – info@birtleycommunitypool.org.uk
Birtley Community Pool needs volunteers to help run the building, activities, and to raise income. Volunteers will support us with reception duties, practical tasks (like cleaning and checking equipment), and fundraising to raise community awareness.
We have three roles available:
Volunteers are key to our vision and will work alongside staff and trustees to help us provide quality aquatic activities for our local residents.
You can volunteer regularly or as much as you’re able. To get involved, contact Jackie or Yvonne at info@birtleycommunitypool.org.uk or meet them at the Birtley Library Drop-in Session on Saturday 14th September between 10:30am to 12pm.
During August, we recommissioned the boilers and the pool plant, which involved heating the water up to normal temperature, restarting and testing the pool plant equipment (including the circulation pumps and the chemical dosing mechanism), and testing the water quality. The pool water quality tests were all passed so the pool is now ready to use, and the lifeguard staff have been in the water doing their training.
New signage has been installed at the front of the building. The meeting room, reception area and staff rooms have been redecorated and new flooring installed. We have also purchased new equipment for health and safety, for cleaning the pool, and to assist customers with disabilities accessing the pool. We have carried out a thorough deep clean of the pool area and changing rooms.
The inflatable course has been delivered, which is 18m long, and wide enough for two people to take on the obstacle course at the same time. Additionally, the water slide has been repaired, repainted and completely refurbished. This has improved the ride experience tremendously.
We are still planning a phased reopening in September. Staff have been undergoing training and completing preopening tasks during the day. The swimming club have been using the pool in the early mornings and evenings as a pilot to ensure everything functions smoothly, as their sessions require only a small number of lifeguards. The first swimming club session took place on Monday, 2nd September, and we’ve received positive feedback from swimmers, coaches, and parents.
The pool will fully open to the public on September 16th, alongside the start of swimming lessons provided by Swim City for local schools and the public. The reopening was delayed by a week due to delays in obtaining DBS checks for staff, which are required to ensure we have sufficient lifeguards for public sessions.
Public opening hours may be limited in the weeks commencing 16th and 23rd September, as we are still waiting for DBS checks for some lifeguards. This will not impact swimming lessons, as the lifeguard requirements are different due to the presence of Swim City teachers. We will post daily updates on our website and Facebook page by 8:00 PM, confirming the public swimming hours for the next day. You can also call us at 0191 4329444 to check the schedule.
We continue to hold our monthly drop-in sessions at Birtley Library. This is your opportunity to call in and speak with some of the trustees who will be available to answer questions and listen to any ideas you may have about the pool.
You don’t need to stay for the full hour and a half, it’s fine to just drop in for a few minutes.
This month’s session is:
We have made some minor changes to the term-time pool timetable originally included in the August newsletter, and a new version is shown on the next page. The updates include adjusting the timing of the water slide and inflatables sessions on weekends so that they now run consecutively from 2 pm to 4 pm, adding a water slide-only session on Friday nights at 7 pm, and increasing the number of aquafit sessions to four per week, all held in the main pool.
After reopening, we will regularly review the timetable, listen to customer feedback, and implement further changes where beneficial to the community and to ensure the financial sustainability of Birtley Community Pool.
During July we secured a donation of £2,500 from MOTO and launched our Crowdfunding campaign. Or target is to raise £20,000, of which Sport England will contribute £10,000 as long as we raise the other £10,000 from donations and reward purchases made by the local community. We launched the campaign on Friday 19th July and we have raised £6.8k after the first two weeks, so we are well on our target to raise £10,000 by the end of the campaign on Friday 16th August. Once we have reached our Crowdfunding target, we will have secured the required funding to reopen the Birtley Community Pool.
Lewis Herbertson, our Senior Operations Manager, started at Birtley Community Pool on July 8th and Amber Barry, our Business Support Officer, started on July 22nd. We have appointed two Duty Managers, Bailey Hooper, who starts on August 5th, and Michael Hume who starts on August 12th. We have interviewed more candidates for Leisure Attendants during the last week, in addition to the six Leisure Attendants who have already been appointed.
The replacement of the existing boilers, water heater, storage tanks and ancillary assets at the pool with new, more efficient and reliable equipment has been completed. The recommissioning process started on August 5th, which involved heating the water up to normal temperature, restarting and testing the pool plant including the circulation pumps and testing the water quality, to ensure the pool is ready to use by the start of September.
We have installed new security doors and mesh grills on the windows as well as Wi-Fi and broadband. We have also purchased laptops and other IT equipment for the staff to use. All the lighting has been replaced with more efficient LED lighting which will save at least £10,000 per annum from the electricity cost. Work has started on repairing and refurbishing the water slide which will improve the ride experience and we have also ordered an inflatable obstacle course.
Other work planned during August includes installing new signage inside and outside the pool and redecorating the meeting room, reception area and staff rooms, which will also have new flooring fitted. We will be purchasing new equipment for health and safety, for cleaning the pool and to assist customers with disabilities to access the pool.
We are planning a phased reopening of Birtley Community Pool in September. In the week commencing 2nd September we will have staff training during the day and the swimming clubs will use the pool in the early mornings and evenings. We plan to open the pool for public swimming, public swimming lessons and lessons for the local schools in the week commencing 16th September.
As a charity, Birtley Community Aquatic Centre has to balance the mix of pool activities between generating enough money to cover the pool’s operating costs, so we can keep it open, and providing a good range of water-based activities for everyone. The trustees represent a wide variety of pool users (e.g. public swimmers, parents with children who swim, club/competitive swimmers) and trying to provide a pool timetable that meets both of these requirements has been a challenge.
The term time pool timetable therefore includes significant time booked for school and public swimming lessons and club activities, which will bring in guaranteed income. We have also ensured that there are still plenty of opportunities for lane swimming, public swimming, and aquafit during the week, and for family swimming and children’s activities at the weekend.
After much discussion, we have managed to get a pool timetable organised (subject to change) that we believe will meet the needs of all the different customer groups whilst also making enough income to keep the doors open. We are also developing a school holidays timetable which we will share when it is finalised. This will include more time for public swimming, children’s activities, family swimming, and lane swimming. As there will be no school or public swimming lessons during the school holiday periods.
Yvonne Probert – Chair
Matthew Grant – Treasurer
