Swim for Confidence

April 19, 2024

The challenge 

The need for swimming came across very strongly from the community. Nottingham City Council heard multiple times about women wanting to swim but facing many real and perceived barriers such as cost, fear of failure and protocol such as booking on, lockers etc. Religious norms were also a barrier, as there was a desire to ensure the sessions would be female-only.

There were many initial barriers to getting the sessions off the ground. This included ensuring no males could view the pool, instructors would be available, and that there was integration with existing booking systems.

The solution 

Whatever action was taken, it was important that it could be sustainable (particularly since there is a strong latent demand to learn to swim among this audience). Costs were considered, as was integration with swimming in the Centres, hiring out a whole swimming pool for a bespoke session was not the aim. Working with trusted partners and communities, the Council discussed possible solutions including ones that would work existing Leisure Centre programming. It was decided that swimming sessions would occur at the leisure centre and would run alongside current female-only sessions, meaning the village style changing rooms were occupied by women and female workforce was already

Read the article here: Swim for Confidence | Local Government Association