The local community flocked to Jubilee Pool in Knowle, Bristol in their droves over the weekend to support Friends of Jubilee Pool’s (FoJP) 24 hour fundraising swim relay event.
Hundreds of swimmers, volunteers and cheerleaders joined forces with FoJP to help raise over £27,000 towards the group’s bid toSave Jubilee Pool in Knowle, Bristol from closure. Donations continue to flood in and any further prospective donors are encouraged to visit FoJP’s fundraising page for post-event donations.
With the goal of the 24 hour fundraising relay to try and swim from Jubilee Pool in Bristol to Buckingham Palace in London, over 200 participants collectively swam a total of 14,216 lengths of Jubilee’s 22m pool, smashing the original target of 10,000 lengths. With a total of 312,752m swum equating to 193 miles, swimmers not only collectively swam to Buckingham Palace but almost swam all the way BACK to Jubilee Pool too.
As well as the 24 hour swim relay, attendees of the Jubilee-athon were treated to a variety of local food and beverage stalls on-site from Pieminister and Boona Boona coffee, as well as a raffle hosted by local celebrity and Broadchurch actor, Joe Sims.
“The Jubilee-athon was a real joy to participate in and has been an overwhelming success, with the money raised now allowing the FoJP to push forward with our bid to save the pool,” said Friends of Jubilee Pool chairperson and co-organiser of the swim relay event, Julie Laming.
“A huge thank you has to go out to the Jubilee Pool employees from Parkwood Leisure who worked throughout the 24 hours of the event and lifeguarded to keep everyone safe. Of course huge thanks also go out to all the swimmers that participated and raised the funds, the volunteers who worked tirelessly and kept everyone motivated and the various organisations that donated food and beverages for us to serve at the event and a plethora of prizes for us to hand out at the incredible raffle that acted as a closing ceremony to the event.”
The FoJP group are extremely thankful to have received some pro bono support so far, but have been in great need to raise additional funds to keep going with their campaign.
The money now raised from the Jubilee-athon will help FoJP with their bid to take Jubilee Pool into community ownership from Bristol City Council, with ongoing costs including legal advice, accountancy, marketing and communications, funding, specialist structural surveys, as well as help to develop a business plan.
Friends of Jubilee Pool have also opened a community consultation via anonymous survey to determine what members of the public - both current users and non-users of the pool - would like to see from the future of the facility.
Jubilee-athon Fun Facts
- Total amount raised: £27,000+ (exact amount tbc)
- Total number of lengths swum: 14,216
- Total metres swum: 312,752 (193 miles)
- Total number of swim participants: 207
- Total number of Pieminister pies eaten at event: 154
For 85 years Jubilee Swimming Pool in Knowle, Bristol has been a vital leisure facility for its local community. Now the swimming pool is under serious threat from closure with Bristol City Council proposing to shut the doors forever in March 2022.
The Friends of Jubilee Pool are a group of volunteers who want to save the pool for future generations by bringing it into community ownership.
**Jubilee Swimming Pool community consultation: https://savejubileepool.org/take-part-in-our-survey/
**Save Jubilee Pool:https://savejubileepool.org/
***Donate directly to FoJP:https://localgiving.org/donation/friends-of-jubilee-pool-bristol