The Government's free-swimming initiative for over 60s at the Lido and Guildford Spectrum will come to an end on 31st July 2010. The curtailment of the scheme follows the government's decision to end free-swimming funding to local authorities in the light of national budgetary constraints. Free swimming for over 60s in Guildford was made possible through a direct grant received from the Government. Without this funding Guildford Borough Council is unable to continue with the free-swimming initiative as it is also under great pressure financially to find savings of £8 million over the next 3 years.

However, Guildford Spectrum's General Manager, Claire Davenport says that there are still plenty of affordable swimming options for the over 60s at Guildford pools. "Swimming is a fantastic exercise for the over 60s since it is so gentle on joints and is accessible for all abilities. We are determined to help our older local residents continue with affordable swimming which is why we are extending our usual term-time only programme to include the summer holidays for 2010*. By signing up to our free Active Card leisure reward scheme they can swim for just £1 in our competition, teaching or diving pool every weekday from 1.30pm - 5.00pm. We have also introduced a new over 60s rate of £3 for the leisure pool Swim for All sessions.

She continues, "We also offer a £1 Early Morning Swim on Fridays from 7.30am for the Over 50s and outdoor swimming at Guildford Lido is also available during the summer at a concessionary rate of £2.90. This becomes even more good value with the introduction of a new reduced price season ticket for the remainder of the Lido swimming season at a cost of only £17.50."

One of the things that Spectrum staff noticed during the free swimming period was that many older people were unable to access the free swimming initiative because they had never learnt to swim. It is therefore introducing free beginners' swimming lessons on Monday mornings for the Over 60s starting from September, which means that many more people will have an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of this form of exercise.

Guildford Borough Council was given a £37,002  budget by the Government to cover the free swimming sessions for 2009/10 which enabled it to offer free ‘Swim for All' sessions to the over 60s at all of its pools. With the removal of the grant, Jim Miles, Strategic Director, says, "The Government clearly has difficult decisions to make about public spending to ease the national debt. Whilst free swimming is one of the casualties, we do feel confident that swimming at Spectrum and the Lido still offers fantastic value for money for our residents and hope many members of the community will take up the opportunity to participate in this fantastic sport."

*26th July - 5th Sept