Free swimming for over 60s
- Published: 06 June 2008 15:12
- Author: Simon Ellery
- More by this Author
- Last Updated: 06 June 2008 15:26
The government has unveiled a £140m fund to provide free swimming to over 60s.
Culture secretary Andy Burnham also promised free swimming to all by 2012.
The move is part of a bid to get two million people more active by the London 2012 Olympics.
The two-year cash fund will support local authorities to open up nearly 1,600 publicly-owned swimming pools free to over 60s. The money is also being hailed as a "challenge fund" for councils to provide free swimming to under 16s and rejuvenate and maintain pools.
Burnham said:
"We have chosen swimming because its appeal is universal. It is the perfect antidote to the couch potato culture. That's why since 1997 almost £250 million of public money has been invested in swimming - more than any other sport. Over the last three years, more swimming pools have opened than closed.
"My ambition is that by 2012 as many areas as possible open their public pools for free."
Search for 'workable' funding system
The Local Government Association said around a quarter of councils already provide free swimming.
Sport spokesman Cllr Chris White (Lib Dem) said: "Councils will work with the government to put in place a workable system for distributing the limited two-year funding announced today in a way that will make a real difference to participation in physical activity.
"We look forward to working with the government about ways to fund the cost of meeting the Secretary of State's wider ambitions for free swimming for all by 2012 in a way that works in practice and increases participation.
