24 Feb 2015

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The $1 pools at Linwood Avenue School have proved popular for their first season, with people enjoying 3000 swims since they opened on 6 December 2014.

There is still time to swim for a $1 entry free before the pools closes on 8 March.

There are two pools at Linwood Avenue School – one about 20 metres long and the other 18 metres. Both were damaged in the February earthquake and were unused until October 2013. The school received money from Christchurch Earthquake Appeals Trust and the Ministry of Education to repair and refurbish the pools.

Rawhiti Community Sports Inc. has been running the pools and Board Member Alan Direen is pleased the pools have been so well used. “People in the eastern suburbs have enjoyed having this facility available. It’s great to see the children and their parents splashing around and having fun. So many of them have had a hard time since the earthquakes, so it’s great that we’ve contributed to a happier summer for them,” Alan Direen says.

The pools received funding support from Christchurch City Council’s Hagley/Ferrymead Community Board and The Canterbury Community Trust’s Need Help Now Fund. “Without these organisations, we wouldn’t have been able to open the pools,” Alan Direen says.

Rawhiti has already secured 50 per cent of funding required to reopen the $1 pools at Linwood Avenue School in the 2015/16 summer season.

Lifeguards have reported that the pools have a real community and family atmosphere and there were lots of people coming every day during the school holidays. On hot days, there have been up to 250 swimmers using the pools.

Linwood Avenue School Principal Gerard Direen says the arrangement with Rawhiti has worked well.  “We had the facility available, they had the people available to run it, it made good sense to work together and families have loved it,” Gerard Direen says.

Now that school is back, the public hours at the $1 pools at Linwood Avenue School are: 4pm to 7.30pm from Monday to Friday, and 11am to 6pm at weekends. Groups can use the pools by arrangement 6am to 8am Monday to Friday, and 7am to 9am at weekends.