Save Churchill Sports Centre

19/01/2023

Latest news on the future of Churchill Sports Centre.

The following is an extract of an email the working party received from North Somerset Council last November 2022. If you have any questions I would suggest you direct them to Karlie Phillips at NSC.

Dear Working Party Members

Churchill Sports Centre: Proposal to make the existing closure permanent

I am writing to let you know that an Executive Member decision will be submitted in January 2023 recommending to make the existing closure of Churchill Sports Centre permanent.

We wanted you to be aware of this proposal before it reaches the wider public domain when the Council’s budget update papers are published, and before proposals are discussed by our Executive next Wednesday.

We have really appreciated your efforts and support in trying to keep the sports centre open.

Unfortunately, no affordable options have been identified to reinstate services that have been closed for the past two and a half years.

Like all councils across the country, we face continuing inflationary cost pressures and stretched resources. At the same time, we are seeing rising demands on our services from more residents being pushed into poverty.

This is a difficult decision, but we have reached the conclusion that the only affordable option is the permanent closure of the sports centre, including the swimming pool.

However, the sports pitches and sports hall remain available for community use as they have done throughout the closure period, operated by Churchill Academy.

Discussions are under way about the future of the asset and we will share more information on this when we’re able to.

Please feel free to contact me if you want any more information.

Regards

Karlie Phillips
Leisure Manager
Place Directorate
North Somerset Council

15/01/2022

LATEST UPDATE ON CHURCHILL SPORTS CENTRE
The following has been posted by Patrick Keating, LibDem Councillor for Blagdon and Churchill, to his fb page.

"Together with local campaigners, I’ve been fighting hard to get the Churchill sports centre back open.
After months of lobbying, we have got to the point where North Somerset Council have agreed in principle to cover the necessary capital costs to renovate the centre.
There is still a challenge in finding funds to cover the day to day running costs. (Unlike other sports centres in NSC, Churchill has always required a subsidy due to relatively low user numbers).
One option now on the table is asking neighbouring Parish Councils (who have more flexibility in raising their precepts than North Somerset) to play a role.
The question now is are people in the community willing to accept a small increase in their Parish Council precept to ensure a sustainable future for our local pool and sports centre?"

Mendip Villages Fitness working group has also had meetings with John Penrose, our MP for Weston-super-Mare and other interested parties. We are still working hard to achieve a positive outcome for this much needed facility.

15/11/2021

Press Release by District Councillor Patrick Keating.
9 November 2021

Save our Sports Centre!
Residents and local Councillor call for North Somerset to take action to re-open Churchill Sports Centre

Local residents and the district councillor for Churchill, Patrick Keating have today called for the leadership of North Somerset Council to take urgent steps to save Churchill Sports Centre, which has been closed since March 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic and the departure of the previous commercial operator.
While other sports centres and pools across North Somerset have been reopened, Churchill Sports Centre remains closed. Although a working group of volunteers, local councillors and North Somerset officers have been seeking a solution for over a year, residents of the Mendip villages still do not have access to vital local swimming and other fitness facilities.
A survey carried out by local residents under the name ‘Mendip Villages Fitness’, was completed by 1,900 local residents and submitted to North Somerset in March this year but there has been limited progress on finding a way forward to reopen the Sports Centre. Meanwhile the population of the villages within the catchment of the centre has substantially increased due to large housing developments.
Patrick Keating, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Blagdon and Churchill, said: “Ensuring that everyone has access to swimming facilities is crucial to ensuring the health and well-being of North Somerset residents. I am calling on North Somerset’s leadership to ensure that residents of Churchill and the surrounding villages have access to affordable swimming facilities – without needing to drive to Weston. While budgets are challenging, we need to be pushing central Government to live up to their promise to invest in local pools.”
Speaking at a meeting of North Somerset Council today, Jill Maycock, on behalf of Mendip Village Fitness, a group of residents campaigning for the future of Churchill Sports Centre, called on councillors to “take decisive action on this issue. They are simply kicking the can down the road. They have published fine strategies on Health & Wellbeing and Sports & Leisure Facilities but are not acting on them. Doing nothing is not an option. We have been waiting patiently for an answer for over a year and our patience is now wearing thin.”
Churchill Academy & Sixth Form, in whose grounds the centre is located, is also impacted by the closure and wants to know what is happening. Chris Hildrew, Headteacher said: “the council-owned sports centre and swimming pool, located in the middle our Academy site, has been closed since March 2020. We look forward to a prompt decision from North Somerset Council so that we can work closely with all concerned on the future of this important facility.”
John Penrose, MP for Weston-super-Mare and the Villages, said: “Churchill Sports Centre has huge support from local families who want to have fun, keep fit and teach their children to swim, as well as a powerhouse of skilled residents who will work with the Council, the leisure centre operator and the school so it can be financially self-sustaining in future. Hutton Moor Pool is already fully used, so Churchill’s pool is essential to cope with all this extra demand. We can’t afford to let this vital community asset go.”

A video of Councillor Keating talking to residents about the sports centre is here:

15/11/2021

https://youtu.be/mJG85EaWvhk
Jill Maycock, our MVF representative spoke at a Council Meeting on 9th November to question North Somerset Council regarding the continued closure of Churchill Sports Centre and the lack of action and communication so far. Jill's speech starts at 8.50 minutes into the meeting. It is an excellent statement. Please do take time to listen. Thank you.

Coverage of the Full Council meeting. Agenda available at: https://n-somerset.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=169&MId=773Viewers can turn on subtitl...

09/11/2021

08/10/2021

A quick update for you all on the current position concerning Churchill Sports Centre.

The CSC working group, Mendip Villages Fitness, is in regular communication with North Somerset Council with regard to the reopening of the centre and its pool. We still have no decision about its future, even though it is nearly a year since its closure.

We understand that talks within NSC are still ongoing. We asked NSC for yet another update and they have issued the following statement:

"THE COUNCIL HAS BEEN WORKING WITH PARTNERS OVER A NUMBER OF MONTHS TO INVESTIGATE THE FUTURE OF THE SPORTS CENTRE. THE FUTURE OPTIONS ARE BEING PRESENTED AND DISCUSSED BY COUNCIL OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE MEMBERS OVER THE COMING MONTHS".

Mendip Villages Fitness will continue to press them for a positive response and will post an update here as soon as we have anything more to report.

In the meantime, thank you for your continued support.

23/09/2021

We are still waiting to hear NSC’s plans for the sports centre and swimming pool and need this facility reopened urgently.

Almost 2,000 swimming pools could be lost forever by the end of the decade unless the Government and councils ‘act now’ to replace ageing facilities.

12/06/2021

Thank you for all your support, likes and comments on our Save Churchill Sports Centre page.

This is just a quick update. Talks between Mendip Villages Fitness working party, North Somerset Council and other parties are still ongoing. They are progressing well, albeit slowly, but they have been very encouraging and we are all working towards a positive outcome for the centre.

We are all very well aware of the importance of keeping a healthy mind and body and Covid has highlighted this more so now than ever. Our leisure centre is a crucial facility in enabling us all to achieve this.

It is also a fundamental and necessary skill that children can swim 25 metres by the time they leave primary education again emphasising the need for the centre to retain its swimming pool.

All parties are in agreement on these points and are working very hard to open the centre again for the rural villages in the area.

As soon as we have any definite news we will, of course, let you know straight away.

Thank you, once again, for your invaluable support.

Mendip Villages Fitness.

06/05/2021

"COVID: PARENTS URGED TO PRIORITISE SWIMMING LESSONS - BBC News."

Parents should put swimming lessons "front and centre of their priorities" as the country comes out of lockdown, Olympian Duncan Goodhew has said.
It comes after the sport's governing body said the lack of lessons during the Covid pandemic meant 240,000 children had missed out on learning how to swim 25m - the length of most pools.
Swim England said more than five million swimming sessions were lost during the pandemic.

Pools first had to close in March 2020.
Indoor pools are able to open across the UK and swimming classes have resumed in England, Scotland and Wales but are still limited in Northern Ireland to one-to-one lessons.
Mr Goodhew, who is president of charity Swimathon Foundation which has a Covid relief fund to support aquatics organisations, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "impossible" for children to learn to swim without being in the water.
"It is particularly important with the holidays, with young kids running round at pools or the seaside who can't swim it is a pretty frightening experience for the parent," he said. "So I think it is really important the parents put this front and centre of their priorities and get children signed up to learn to swim."

Some parents say swimming has become too expensive and many families cannot afford it
Mr Goodhew, who won gold at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, said 90% of pools had reopened but even before the pandemic there had been three-year waiting lists for lessons at some pools.
He said water safety, "learning about when it is safe to swim and how to look after yourself etc and a better respect for the water" was important for children.
Swim England chief executive Jane Nickerson said people had "returned to the water in droves" since pools reopened but warned the organisation expected "some regression amongst children's swimming ability" with facilities having been closed.
She encouraged parents and guardians to be "proactive" in making up for lost time.

One parent who cannot wait to get his child in the pool is Olympic medallist Leon Taylor.
He said he was keen to start teaching his 10-month-old son Ziggy about water and swimming but as he was born in June last year he had "never even been to swimming pool" and his only water-based experiences were in the bath.

Mother-of-two Amy McCarthy, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said she had seen deterioration in her son and daughter's swimming ability but was "confident that we'll be able to make up for lost time".
But some parents have struggled to get their children into lessons.
Emma Buysman, from Buckinghamshire, said her youngest child was missing out after his lessons with a parent were cancelled during the first lockdown.
"It's now impossible to find a lesson for him as having turned three, he cannot yet swim without parental support while those classes he was in haven't yet moved up to the next stage as they have missed a year of classes," she said.
She added that her local leisure centre was trying to recruit new swimming teachers but was finding it difficult to allocate both pool slots and find teachers for the level of demand.
"People want public swimming and you can't have public swimming when you are having the lessons," she said.
Sam Gillett, from Bath, said swimming had become "a luxury that many families cannot afford" and said the leisure centre his family used had put up swimming costs due to the pandemic.
"It would now cost us £22 for a family of four, with a two-year-old and five-year-old," he said.
"We are a relatively well-off family and that is too much for us to afford with any regularity, what about families with much less."

08/04/2021

Sports Centre Survey Results.
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. We received a massive 1900 responses.
98% Felt that “NSC should provide Sports and Leisure facilities for the benefit of physical and mental health of communities in the Mendip Villages”.
97% Felt that the swimming pool should be kept open and if possible, upgraded.
A hugely encouraging 89% would be likely to use the centre if it reopens.
A large number cited “Tired appearance, cleanliness of premises etc.” as the main reason for not using it more. Comments explaining your choices are invaluable.

You also highly valued:
Fitness classes
Gym
Sports Hall
NEW facilities and activities that created great interest are:
Coffee lounge
Pool based activities
Treatment rooms
Children’s parties
Wider range of gym equipment
Sport & Mental Health programmes
Gentle activities for the elderly

This robust survey now forms the basis for North Somerset Council and Mendip Villages Fitness to work together to establish the next steps. We will keep you updated.

[email protected]

06/03/2021

The survey will be closing soon so if you haven’t filled it in yet, please let us know your views on the future of Churchill Sports Centre. We’ve had over 1,500 responses so far but your opinion really counts. Please make your voice heard!

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

19/02/2021

Exercise is vital for mental as well as physical health. We have had over 1500 responses to our survey but we still need to hear from you. Our rural villages need leisure facilities and this is your chance to get your voice heard!

Please complete the survey: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MendipVillagesFitness

Deadline: Sunday 14 March 2021