Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the announcement that Hailsham Leisure Centre will receive an investment of over £70,000 from the Government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund, to help improve its energy efficiency.
The Government’s Swimming Pool Fund was announced at the Chancellor’s Spring Budget last year, and has been split into two phases, totalling over £60m from the Exchequer and £20m from Sport England’s Lottery funding. Phase 1 delivered £20m of support for 196 facilities most at risk from closure, while Phase 2 is providing further investment of £40m of Exchequer funding and £20m of Lottery funding, which will enable over 300 public swimming pools across England to improve their energy efficiency.
As part of the Phase 2 funding, Hailsham Leisure Centre will receive £71,237 to help implement interventions to improve energy consumption. The interventions include the installation of PV solar to offset grid electricity usage and installing a pool cover which will reduce the heat loss from the pool, in turn reducing gas consumption and associated costs for heating the pool.
Nusrat has previously been liaising with Ivan Horsfall Turner, the CEO of Freedom Leisure, which operates the Hailsham, Crowborough and Uckfield leisure centres in Wealden, with regards to the impact of the rise in energy bills on the leisure sector, and has previously made representations to the Treasury regarding further support for leisure centres, in addition to the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.
Nusrat Ghani said: “This is excellent news for Hailsham and a much-welcome result following my meetings with Freedom Leisure CEO and previous representations to the Treasury. Health, leisure and sport facilities play a key role in building resilience and well-being of our communities, and I am delighted that Hailsham will benefit from over £70,000 from this highly competitive fund to ensure that local residents can have better access to a healthy lifestyle. The Swimming Pool Fund is a significant investment in energy efficient interventions and will improve the sustainability of many facilities across the nation, as well safeguard their future provision.”
