Let's bring outdoor swimming and paddling to Waltham Forest

 Dear Supporters,

We had a meeting with Clare Coghill, leader of the council for Waltham Forest who welcomed this initiative. She seems enthusiastic and is currently looking into possible locations in the borough as well as commissioning an initial feasibility study. The area around Hollow Pond (owned by the City of London Corporation) is a strong contender, as it's underused and well connected.

If this project does go ahead, it's likely to be a natural swimming pond, rather than a traditional lido. When it comes to open water swimming, there is a big trend towards ‘natural swimming pools’, which look like ponds, but are specially designed for swimming. The water is cleaned by reed beds rather than chlorine, will be tested regularly and meet the necessary water standards. This is because many people prefer to swim in a natural environment and unchlorinated water, which is also a lot healthier. These ponds are also environmentally friendly, look pretty all year round and, crucially, are only a small fraction of the cost to establish, staff and maintain. Everybody involved from the Waltham Forest Open Water Swimmers not only preferred to have a swimming pond over a lido, but also felt that it wasn't realistic to raise the many millions it would cost to not only build but also maintain a lido at a time when public finances are as squeezed as they currently are.

Clare reiterated that the council's budget has been slashed so drastically that the borough has no funding for such a project, but was optimistic that funds could be secured through grants or other means. 

We are in the process of forming an organisation to be able to apply for grants and be able to support or be involved in the running of an outdoor swimming facility. At this point, it’s likely to be a relatively informal unregistered charity, until we know exactly what kind of legal structure would be most useful. 

It's still very early stages (and we’re still a long way from actually having an open water swimming facility), but this project got off to a fantastic and enthusiastic start – we now have to make it happen! If you would like to help, visit the Waltham Forest Open Water Facebook page or email any queries or questions to OutdoorswimWF@gmail.com