Birtley Community Pool Newsletter

Hello everyone

The Asset transfer has taken place on May 31st

As agreed with Gateshead Council we have signed the 50 year lease so have completed the asset transfer. Birtley Community Aquatic Centre (BCAC) now have full responsibility for the Birtley Community Pool. The trustees now have a three-month period from the start of June to the end of August for all the planned capital work to be delivered, which will be managed by the BCAC trustees.

The capital work will include:

• Installing roller shutters on all entry points and mesh grills on some windows

• Resurfacing the middle section of the car park

• Replacing the existing boilers, water heater, storage tank and associated plant

• Replacing the existing lighting with more efficient LED lighting

• Repairing and refurbishing the water slide During this time we have had to close the car park to the public and we kindly request that no one parks at the swimming centre as we will be having contractors vehicles, resurfacing and ongoing works happening during this time.

Fundraising update

Although the asset transfer is complete, we continue to fundraise as we still need to raise an additional £75,000 to reopen the pool. To help us reach this target, we will be launching another Crowdfunding campaign during June, with a minimum target to raise £20,000.

We have started to ask local businesses and supporters to donate items that we can sell on the Crowdfunding page as rewards, as we did for the last Crowdfunding campaign in September 2023.

If you have anything you would like to donate please contact us by email to birtley.aquatic@gmail.com, marking your subject as crowdfunder donation please which will enable this email to be picked up by the correct person.

We are continuing to have discussions with several other charitable funders to obtain the remaining monies.

We are now very confident that we will raise the remaining £75,000 over the next few months, with the support of the community and the other funders. Recruitment has started for the Birtley Community Pool staff

We have started the recruitment process for the team of staff who will operate the building and look after the customers once we reopened to the public in September 2024. We have already successfully appointed the Senior Operations Manager and one of the Duty Managers.

We have also advertised the Leisure Attendant and Business Support Assistant roles.

We are aiming for some of the staff to start work at the pool during July to help us get ready for opening to the community in September, with the rest of the staff starting during August.

Drop-In Sessions during 2024 at the Birtley Library

We continue to hold our monthly drop-in sessions at the Birtley Library from 10.30 am until 12 noon 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 on any of the following Saturday mornings:

Saturday 8th June Saturday 13th July Saturday 10th August

If you would like to contact us with your ideas or questions, please email us on: birtley.aquatic@gmail.com

On behalf of the Birtley Community Aquatic Centre CIO trustee board

Yvonne Probert: Chair Matthew Grant: Treasurer