Hello everyone! It seems like a long time since we last gave an update on progress at the pool. We had a number of very successful events over the Christmas period, with the Christmas Quiz & Raffle, the Little Big Band Concert, our stint in the Charity Shop and Christmas Bingo, collectively raising nearly £5,000 towards the project! Thank you to everyone who supported us.
In terms of the project itself, we’ve continued to be busy in the background. As you may know from previous updates, we have planning permission for a larger plant room, and a kitchen / office / toilet facility. We’ve had the gas connections terminated, all the old pipework removed, the electrics decommissioned awaiting next steps and a drain survey conducted.
All this leads to the biggest update of all – we have been very fortunate to have secured a grant from Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council’s Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF) for £73,806 – which we will use to build the facilities we need as we work towards opening. With the money we have already raised, through community fundraising and events, we should be in a position to commence these works in around April – May (contractors are experiencing delays with the weather!) We will be working on the kitchen / office / toilet facilities first (using the Grant money) and then moving forward with rebuilding and re-equipping the plant room, so that we can operate the pool itself (using our existing funds).
Opening Day still feels like a long way off – but we are making real steps in the right direction. You should start to see some work happening at the pool over the coming months, and we will keep you updated as things progress – expect photos!
Thank you for your continued support. We appreciate it.
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