Padiham swimming baths has received another tranche of funding worth £187,549 to support swimming in the community.
Following a grant to Burnley Leisure of just under £250,000 last year (split between Burnley and Padiham), this new funding is intended to bolster the facilities in Padiham.
As announced in the 2023 Spring Budget, over £60 million of funding is being rolled out, with the St Peter’s Centre and Padiham Leisure Centre both benefitting.
Commenting on the latest announcement local MP Antony Higginbotham said:
I’m really pleased to see this level of funding come to Padiham. Having raised the importance of swimming pools in Parliament, Padiham baths received just over £80,000 last November to help pay the energy costs needed to keep them open. And they’re now set to get another £187,000 to improve the pools energy use long term to secure the facilities future.
Aside from being a great form of exercise, swimming is vital for young children to learn, especially given the dangers of not being able to swim. I’m sure this extra funding will go some way to keeping Padiham baths accessible and well-kept for everybody to use, which to me is a great thing.
The measures are intended to ensure that children and adults continue to have access to good quality public swimming pools, helping people get active and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Administered through Sports England the criteria used to determine who received funding considered a range of factors, including financial need, the risk of closure, the proximity to other swimming pools providing public swimming access and the level of demand for the facility.