You might remember that earlier this year, we went out to kids, parents, guardians and schools to publicise Freedom Leisure’s free swimming offer for the under 16s – and we also removed the £5 charge for the junior swim card.
Booklets containing the card went out to schools throughout the county borough – with children encouraged to take the card home and remind parents to make use of the free swimming scheme.
A few months on, we’re very pleased to report that as a result, uptake for the free swimming scheme for the under 16s nearly doubled when compared to the same numbers last year – from 184 cards issued between January and March last year to 364 this year.
Along with changes and improvements to our leisure and activity centres, we’ll continue working to make sure as many people as possible make use of all of our pools.
Cllr Andrew Atkinson, Lead Member for Youth Services and Anti-Poverty, with responsibility for Leisure, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve seen a significant increase in the uptake of free swimming in Wrexham for under 16s as a result of increased publicity, and the removal of the £5 card charge.”
“I really hope that the removal of card charges for the over 60s will see similar results and encourage more people to get active and get into the pool.
“Since becoming Lead Member for this area, I’ve been keen to see the charge for the cards removed from both a leisure and anti-poverty perspective and I can’t thank Freedom Leisure enough for their work in doing this, along with our team of hard-working council officers.
“Freedom Leisure is a fantastic organisation to work with, and we all hope for an even greater increase in the number of swimmers across the County Borough.
“I know the team will be happy to speak to anyone regarding the changes to the card charges, and am very pleased these changes are now in place.
“I look forward to working regularly with Freedom Leisure and Council officers to constantly bring about further changes and improvements.”
Need school transport in September? Apply online now
[button color=”” size=”large” type=”square_outlined” target=”new” link=” https://admissions.wrexham.gov.uk/CitizenPortal_Live/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2FCitizenPortal_Live%2F”] APPLY ONLINE NOW [/button]
