Manchester Labour

With news that funding for free swimming is being cut by central government, Councillor Mike Amesbury is writing to the secretary of state, urging him to reconsider.

In Manchester, those who are aged 16 and under or 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 now funding has been cut by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as part of £73million worth of savings, meaning that free swimming will be axed.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council’s executive member for culture and leisure will now write to Jeremy Hunt, who is secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport appealing for him to review the decision. His letter will detail the benefits of providing free swimming in a bid to combat potential health problems among a generation and the associated costs involved in dealing with them.

Councillor Mike Amesbury said: “At a time when health problems such as obesity and heart disease are at an all time high and at a time when families are least likely to be able to afford to pay for sports activity, it seems nonsensical to take this important provision away.

“It’s vital that people maintain their fitness from an early age and keep themselves active as they are getting older to improve their health and well-being. Cutting this funding is misguided as it won’t save money, it will simply result in a greater financial strain being put onto the health service. We really are heading for a health crisis if we don’t continue to support families by offering these opportunities and this is not to mention the social benefits we will be depriving many younger and older people of, who may not have the chance to take part in such activities if the funding is not there.”

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 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 to Manchester swimming pools recorded since the initiative began. The biggest uptake has been in Wythenshawe, where there has been a 64% 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.