An Arnold-based swimming club is appealing for help from the public in raising funds following a tough year of lockdowns.
Arnold Swimming Club, which celebrated its 95th birthday this year, has started a Go Fund Me in order to raise funds to keep the club up and running once restrictions end.
The club mainly operates out of Arnold Leisure Centre and has been hit hard by Covid-19, with pool hire costs continuing to increase, but time in the pool for swimmers being reduced from one hour down to only 50 minutes.
The annual Ernehale Open held by the club has also been unable to go ahead due to restrictions, resulting in a loss of around £2,500.
Kelly Bodycott, who both chairs and coaches for the club, said: “Covid restrictions have hit our club hard, and we are now facing another annual pool hire increase and no let up in restrictions.
“Numbers allowed in the pool now cannot exceed 36 at any time, meaning that we have had to allocate sessions to members and have been unable to go and actively recruit new members to help with funds.
“Even when we were able to return to the pool in August, we felt it would be detrimental to increase membership fees and so had to use our reserves to cover the cost.
“We are trying to balance the books and keep our members doing a sport they love as they can’t just do it in a park or at home.
“The club has been going for 95 years this year, and we would love to keep it going for a lot longer, swimming is a life skill and it’s good for physical and mental wellbeing.”
The club has so far raised £2,919.
To donate towards the club’s £5,000 fundraising target, please visit: https://gofund.me/0a096326
