Outdoor swimming for the community.
Creating a community hub.
With a growing city population.
A need for community gathering space.
Creating access to nature and exercise.
Benefits to health and well-being.
Creating a community outdoor swimming pool and community cafe.
As a group of local residents the aim is to create a positive impact on the local area and community. The project would include assessment of the impact the Eastville Park Lido has for local people and the community. This will include measures of:
1. Level of community use of the facility: To demonstrate that the space is actively used as a community hub and working to meet changing local needs.
2. Diverse community involvement and participation in governance: Throughout the project the business model will include provision of ongoing decision-making power to the community to shape the business. This could be through a community share offer, membership, legal structure or regular community consultation. This will provide accountability to the community. We will periodically examine how this works to ensure people from across all communities of Bristol feel able to get involved in the project.
3. Level of cross - subsidy / affordability: Demonstrate the levels of subsidy provided to ensure the facilities are accessible to all.
4. Financial return to the local area: A financial measure demonstrating the level of ‘community dividend’ provided by the project.
5. Environmental impact: Measuring the levels of energy use, waste, pollution and CO2 emissions from the project and demonstrating a high level of performance and improvement.
Eastville park swimming baths were built in 1905 and the golden age of lidos in the United Kingdom was in the 1930s. Over 169 were built across the UK as recreational facilities by local councils. Many lidos closed during the first and second world wars, including Eastville Park Swimming Baths.
Since the turn of this century, however, there has been a growing movement towards restoring and reopening many of Britain’s run-down, abandoned and forgotten open-air pools. This is because of the growing appreciation of the health benefits of an outdoor dip.
There is also a strong case developing at Portsmouth University from the Extreme Environments team that cold water swimming could help our mental health. Dr Mark Harper, the Outdoor Swimming Society’s cold expert cites “better metabolism, especially with regard to the way the body handles sugar” as another benefit. He talks of how repeated immersion helps 'train’ our fight-or-flight response - the icy temperatures being several degrees below the tropical climes of our evolutionary origin. This means we might become better at coping with stress, “a bit like the controlled exposure used for allergies”, he says.[1]
We also know that connecting with nature helps urban dwellers to reduce anxiety; that natural light, even a feeble wintery one, boosts our levels of serotonin and Vitamin D, the lack of which are both linked to depression.
Eastville park swimming baths was once a hub for the community that promoted health and well-being. We, as a group of local residents, believe that swimming should be brought back to the ‘People’s Park’ allowing many more people in the community to access outdoor activities within nature. The site would be the 2nd bowling green site, which is underused and enable the build of a larger pool.
These days we lead very busy and hectic lives, and when you go to a lido it’s a very simple, relaxing space. This project is about allowing everyone in the community the opportunity to get into the water, to relax outdoors in nature and access the resulting health benefits. It is about creating the right funding model for the protection and development of our community services. Creating a space with an operational model which partners with the local authorities to create community leisure trust. A beautiful space which brings people together from all walks of life, cultures and ethnic backgrounds. The area stands to benefit from economic growth and cohesion through employment and the community’s engagement.
Other ongoing campaigns to create lidos include reopening Broomhill Pool in Ipswich and Peckham Rye Lido in South East London. Cleveland Pools, at Hampton Row, Bath has also recently been given 6 million pounds for restoration.
Bristol has a growing proportion of children and young people and (as with everywhere in the UK) a rising rate of obesity. Providing services to support health and well-being within nature are ever more paramount. A lido also provides a space for friendships to grow as the camaraderie of cold-water swimming is a very big part of the activity. With isolation in cities growing, the mental health and well-being benefits to local residents in creating Eastville Park Lido becomes imperative.
[1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/brrr-joys-cold-water-swimming
