Council aims to keep free swimming

Following news that Government is to scrap the scheme, which allows free swimming for younger and older people, the Council will do all it can to ensure that there is still free swimming in the city.

In Manchester, those who are aged 16 and under and anyone over 60 are currently able to swim for free at public leisure centres in the city as part of an initiative to help people stay active and healthy.

But the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has cut the funding as part of £73million-worth of savings, meaning that free swimming will be axed at the end of this month.

However, at today's meeting of the full council, it was agreed that a review would be set up to look at options to allow free swimming to continue.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council's executive member for culture and leisure said: "We have already committed to extending free swimming until the end of the summer holidays and are looking very closely at how we can keep the funding for free swimming in Manchester going beyond that time.

"We recognise just how important this provision is on the long-term health and wellbeing of local residents. I am very confident that we will find a solution which will ensure that both young and old in Manchester will continue to benefit from free swimming in our fantastic pools."

Since free swimming for the over 60s was introduced in 2008, and for those aged 16 and under in 2009, there has been a big impact on numbers heading to the city's leisure centres.

Among young people, an additional 2,000 swimmers per month are now making use of Manchester's pools with more than 135,000 visits recorded since the initiative began. The biggest uptake has been in Wythenshawe where there has been a 56% increase in the number of young people swimming.

Among the over 60s, there are more than 5,300 registered swimmers in the city with more than 50,000 visits recorded in the last 12 months.