A swimming school in Telford has received vital funding from the Swimathon Foundation.
Duck n Dive Swim School applied for the grant as part of Swimathon Foundation’s Covid-19 Relief Fund, announced last month, to mitigate the loss of income whilst pools are closed and lessons are unable to take place.
The Telford-based organisation has been providing swimming lessons for baby, pre-school and school-aged children for the last 10 years. A significant amount of their lessons are one-to-one and focus on children with special educational needs or phobias.
The Swimathon Foundation grant will allow them to get back up and running once the pools begin to re-open, continue to pay their instructors and ensure every child gets the best possible opportunity to learn to swim.
Andy Wilde from Duck N Dive said: “Financially the fund is so helpful as Covid-19 has hit everyone hard. It can be a bit demoralising thinking about how we are going to go back and build up once again from a very different landscape.
“I was a bit resistant to look for funding initially because when this all happened in March, I was the same as most people and thought maybe we’d be back in the pool after Easter and was a bit naïve ploughing on and not overthinking things. As the situation progressed, we realised the situation was pretty catastrophic and we had to look at a few options. This fund is definitely going to help because we will have to show due diligence for baby lessons. We will have to set up hand sanitiser stations and will help us get back up and running. It put a bit of a spring back in our step to think that we aren’t alone and someone else has your back.”
Last week Swimathon Foundation announced £50,000 worth of grants had been awarded to over one hundred swimming clubs, swimming schools and independent aquatic organisations. The Foundation was overwhelmed by the number of applications received and took the decision to boost its original commitment of £30,000 to £50,000 to cover the grants for small swimming and aquatic organisations who have suffered short-term financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Anthony Kendall OBE, Chair of the Swimathon Foundation said:
“In these difficult times for all swimming organisations, the Swimathon Foundation has been determined to play its part in supporting those smaller, local groups that are the foundation of swimming participation throughout the UK. We have been taken aback by the number of people who need help during these unprecedented times and that is why we have increased our overall donation to £50,000. Swimming is a vital community activity and we are proud to play our part.”
The Swimathon Foundation is a remarkable ‘force for good’ in communities
all across the UK. Its main pool-based ‘Swimathon’ has raised over £50 million
for charities since it was started some 33 years ago.
‘Swimathon’ is the UK’s biggest pool-based recreational swimming event. It
takes place annually at some 600 pools across the UK and
some 750,000 people have taken part since the first event in 1986. As a result
of coronavirus, this year’s event is now scheduled to take place later in the
year.
Shropshire Live is regulated by 