07 November 2008
Below is a copy of a letter sent to London Councils and Facility Operators updating them on how London Swimming would like to invest.
To: Head of Leisure / Facility Operator
RE: Investment by London Swimming into Aquatics Provision in your Borough
On the back of our conversations regarding the governments free swimming offer I would like to confirm our commitment to investing in the development of Aquatics in your Borough and to make you aware of our timeline and approach.
As a governing body we have submitted our whole sport plan to Sport England and the initial feedback has been very positive. This funding submission is on the back of the GLA and Sport England endorsed ‘A strategy to Get London Swimming 2008-2012+’
We should hear back from Sport England on our final offer by the beginning of January.
I will then write to you again to update you on our final figure and timetable. We would like to be able invest in 28 Boroughs over a three year period with that funding matched locally. The funding will be available to invest in key posts to deliver an Aquatics Strategy in your Borough.
We will roll out the funding in a wave formation with between 7-10 Boroughs per year.
We are already working closely with those in the first wave but after that are flexible about who comes on board in waves 2 and 3.
To invest funding into your Borough we would firstly require that you agree to produce a clear facilities strategy which we are happy to support you with. To this end my facilities team has conducted an arms length of provision in your Borough which I will send you individually. I must stress that this is based on the data in Active Places and is therefore only as accurate as that data. However, I hope it provides you with something useful and a basis for taking this area forward. My facilities team can also provide independent (and free) feedback on facility work including refurbishment and new build.
In parallel to the facilities work we would work with you to put in place an Aquatics Strategy that would meet the needs of your residents. To do this we recommend a staged approach:
1) Audit of all aquatics provision
2) Quality assessment by an independent expert on (school / learning / club programmes)
3) Aquatics Strategy developed based on the following three principles:
· A pathway from learn to swim to performance
· Multi discipline (swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, waterpolo etc…)
· Financially sustainable
4) Investment in Key posts that would be accountable for delivering that strategy
The original audit allows us to assess the capacity of your programme to ‘grow, sustain and excel’ and therefore generate a surplus to sustain the key posts after our funding runs out. The Aquatics Strategy and in particular the pathway from ‘learn to swim to performance’ would then be enshrined in your contract with your facility operator (if applicable).
I hope that you see our offer to invest in your Borough as something you would be keen on pursuing. I will hope to update you in the New Year when I have more clarity on the amount of funding and we can then look at your individual timeline.
RE: Free Swimming Offer for London
London Swimming is working hard to ensure that our expertise of handling large participation projects in Lewisham, Islington and Barking & Dagenham is shared across London. For example the Barking & Dagenham industrial scale change in health inequalities involves a £1.3 million pound investment by the PCT in a comprehensive free swimming offer for 0-18 years will be of particular relevance to many of you. Whereas Lewisham and Islington involve a £250,000 investment over two years with a full time co-ordinator both focused on increasing participation in pool based activity.
If it would be valuable we would be happy to co-ordinate with London Councils an event in the first week of January where local authorities and operators can come together to have some really practical discussions on how we make the free swimming offer work for London. For example:
· Sharing best practice on managing sessions / security implications / activity types
· Agreeing a shared data protocol so that M&E is comparable across Boroughs
· Brainstorming ideas on residency / implications on other users
This proposed event is not preventing any individual discussions that you might have with your immediate neighbours but hopefully allowing the wealth of knowledge in London to be shared.
The suggestion is a one day event at London Councils Office (or another central location) on 12 January. If you would like to attend (max 2 people per organisation) then please can you email Anne-Marie.Pickup@londoncouncils.gov.uk
Regards
Colin Brown
Director
London Swimming
