History

An open meeting was held on the 21st September 1966, organised by Tenbury Rural district Council to consider the question of building a swimming pool in the town. The consensus of opinion was that this would be an excellent project and an asset to Tenbury. A number of people expressed their interest in helping such a project and a more formal meeting was called for on the 5th October 1966.

At the second meeting, it was agreed that the name of the organisation would be the 'Tenbury and District Swimming Pool Guild', the name remained in use until 2014 when Tenbury Community Pool Ltd was formed to legally protect the volunteer directors. At the same meeting the object of the Guild was to organise, finance and construct a swimming pool. It was agreed that discussions with the Parish Council should commence in order to examine the possibility of erecting a pool on the Palmers Meadow.

The question of raising money was of paramount importance and a considerable number of suggestions were made, including the formation of an Entertainments and Carnival Committee and a Draws and Lotteries Committee. A Festive carnival was immediately arranged for Whit Monday in May 1967 and it was also agreed that a weekly draw be held in and around the District and would be called the 'High Dive'. Agents to help with this were called for and all the villages around were represented. The first draw of the weekly 'High Dive' was held in December 1966 and raised the sum of £23.10.

Social functions were starting to be held and the sum of £1.75 had been donated by Mrs McGrath, being the profit from a Dinner Party she had held. At the same meeting a Charity Donation had been received from the Godson Trust of £500. It was agreed that in the New Year, letters would be sent to all businesses and households giving details of the project and requesting donations.

It is fair to say that with the 'High Dive' and various functions happening, the next few years proved to be as manic as the five months. Since the first meeting a total sum of £753 had been raised. To encourage the involvement of villages around Tenbury in the 'High Dive' each draw was made at a different venue, mostly public houses many of which have now disappeared but also at Tenbury Hospital.

So many fundraising activities were held during the next three to four years, it would be extremely difficult to describe and list them all. Suffice to say that by early 1970 funds amounting to just over £20,000 had been accumulated, planning permission had been obtained and estimates for building had been received with the lowest being £43,550.

Final grants from various trusts and organisations were being received, over £6,000 had been received in personal loans and discounts on some of the estimates for construction had been negotiated. Thus on the 9th June 1970 work started on construction of the pool.

The Trust Deed was completed by now and provided for the appointment of representatives from Tenbury R D C (3), Ludlow R D C (1), Leominster & Wigmore R D C (1), Tenbury Parish Council (2), The Lessees (1) and 4 members of the public. This situation varied over the years with Councils amalgamating and refusing to make appoint in some cases. Which in part was the reason that a Company Limited by Guarantee was formed i.e. Tenbury Community Pool Ltd.

On Saturday 15th May 1971 the Pool was officially opened by Mr T F Higginson and to mark the occasion a dinner was held at the Bridge Hotel that evening.

Admission charges for the pool were agreed at 15p per Adult, under 16's 7p and Spectators 5p. How times have changed!

Mr Paul Morton was the first manager of the pool and a number of other Staff members were employed. On Sunday afternoons the pool was operated by a team of Volunteers, who were not necessarily well qualified but that was before Health and Safety regulations were tightened up.

Numerous requests for use of the pool were received from several organisations and schools, such as the Guides, Scouts, Kyre Park Spastics Society, Boys brigade etc.

Funds continued to be raised for the pool to buy equipment, carry out small changes and repay personal loans. This method of financing the pool continued for a couple of years until all debts were paid.

The Management structure continued until the mid 1990's when for a variety of reasons, it was decided that the management of the pool should be outsourced to professional providers. Our current service provider Freedom Leisure took over from SLM in 2015 and have the challenge to make the operational side keep the pool open once the Malvern hills District council subsidies stop in 2020. They have invested in energy saving capital expenditure and we are seeing this in reduced energy bills, thus securing the future of the pool by making it more sustainable.