Charity Gain New Trustees and Advisory Group Support

Southwell Leisure Centre Trust are pleased to welcome 3 new trustees who join the 4 existing trustees.

Jonathan Mitchell, Jo Harbord and Alison Berwick, who all live in Southwell, have recently been appointed to restore the number of trust members to previous levels and bring considerable experience and knowledge to the group.

Jonathan is a barrister, whose experience will be crucial as discussion of the lease arrangements and pool repair are held with Newark & Sherwood District Council.

Jo is the chair of Southwell Swimming Club who are all keen to get the pool reopened.

Ali has expertise in support of community groups and fundraising.

Ali and Jo have both been involved in successful campaigns to provide facilities in Southwell Parks and Skatepark.

The new trustees will join Verdun Webley, who was appointed as an independent trustee in June and the 3 STC appointed Trustees Phil Barron, John Lightwood and Andrew Wilson.

The Trustees sought expressions of interest from individuals to assist them with the many tasks ahead with the view to form advisory groups led by individual trustees.

The first combined meeting of the Trustees and Advisory Group took place on Thursday 25 July 2024.

The meeting was very well-attended. Introductions were made and the wide range of skills and experience of the people in the room was exciting to note, including in the areas of swimming pool construction and maintenance, Green construction, accounting, surveying, legal, fund-raising and health and disabilities, as well as keen leisure centre members and community activists.

A number of the people present recounted their experiences of using the swimming facilities in Southwell at the time the pool was first built.

The background to the current situation was discussed, followed by a summary of the work which has been done in the past 2 months to resolve various urgent issues, before the group moved on to developing a plan for future work.

Everyone has been assigned to various working groups, all of them led by a member of the Trust Board.

The Estate working group will provide considerable technical support relating to the Leisure Centre buildings and equipment, including the swimming pool.

Another working group will be focusing on ensuring that future provision gives the maximum opportunity for people with disabilities to be able to access the facilities.

The Communications working group will continue to ensure that people in Southwell and the local district are kept informed of plans and developments. This will include press releases, leafleting, consultation and via the website and Facebook page.

Experience of gift aid, fundraising and community engagement will continue to be a valuable contribution and we are working to set this up.

There will be working group and full team meetings on a regular basis.

We are aware that there will need to be another open meeting for members of the public before too long.

We would like to thank everyone for their support and good wishes. Trustees and members of the advisory group are getting used to being stopped in the street by people wanting an update and offering help and we are very grateful to each and every person

that does.

Dr Philip Barron

Chair of Southwell Leisure Centre Trustees