26th January 2022: Voluntary community group, Friends of Jubilee Pool (FoJP) are hosting a 24 hour sponsored swimming event on 29th/ 30th January 2022 to raise funds in their bid to Save Jubilee Pool in Knowle, South Bristol from closure.
Over 24 hours – from 12pm on 29th January to 12pm on the 30th January 2022 – FoJP will be joined by as many participants as they can safely involve to undertake the ‘Jubilee-athon’ – swimming continuously, with at least one person in the water at all times, nearly 10,000 lengths: the equivalent of swimming from Jubilee Pool to Buckingham Palace.
Almost all tickets have now been sold, with the exception of a handful of hour-long slots from twilight on Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning. Keen night swimmers and endurance sport enthusiasts are encouraged to sign up quick, with the event expected to sell out within the coming 48 hours.
Tickets are available for £5 via the following link, with a recommended £40 fundraising pledge: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/24-hour-sponsored-swim-for-jubilee-pool-tickets-229761572047
The money raised 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.
The group are extremely thankful to have received some pro bono support so far, but need to raise additional funds to keep going.
Organiser of the event and Friends of Jubilee Pool committee member, Ben Bowskill says he has been blown away by the response to the Jubilee-athon, both in the local community and throughout Bristol.
“There’s been a real groundswell of enthusiasm for this fundraiser, which is just fantastic,” he said.
“To essentially sell out in terms of participant tickets – and also to receive such a great response in terms of donations – has exceeded our expectations so far. It just highlights what an important asset Jubilee Pool is to our local community and the volume of people willing to be involved with saving it.
“We hope Bristol City Council has been able to note what’s been going on and we’d encourage mayor Marvin Rees to come down and get involved at the weekend. We’d especially love for him to get in the pool and participate in the swim!”
FoJP have indicated that members of the public are welcome to attend the event irrespective of their involvement in the swim, with a variety of local food and beverage stalls on-site, as well as a raffle and a chance to speak with FoJP about their plans for saving the pool.
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.
*Sign up for the 24 hour sponsored swim as an individual or gather friends and family for a team effort.
**Entry open to competent swimmers. Anyone under the age of 8 must be accompanied by an adult ticket holder in the water.
***Suggested minimum fundraising target of £40 per person.
*Full details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/24-hour-sponsored-swim-for-jubilee-pool-tickets-229761572047
**Save Jubilee Pool: https://savejubileepool.org/
***Donate directly to FoJP: https://localgiving.org/donation/friends-of-jubilee-pool-bristol
Last call to participate in Jubilee Pool’s 24 hour fundraising swim