Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club Needs You!

Aim

To raise funds for LBSC to ensure the legacy of the Club continues for another 100 years and survives beyond these challenging Covid times.

Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club is a friendly, competitive swimming club that has been inspiring generations of local swimmers for 100 years.

Established in 1921, LBSC aims to provide an inclusive environment that welcomes swimmers of all abilities who are interested in progressing their swimming journey; from learning to train to developing into competitive swimming all the way up to National level as well as those who want to swim for fitness and be part of a social community.

2020 and the effects of Covid-19 on LBSC: 

The pandemic has had such a devastating impact on sporting communities across the country and LBSC is no exception.  Like so many clubs we now need to look to fundraise to secure the financial security of our Club so we can keep swimming affordable for anyone from our local community.

2020 was supposed to be about planning for our Clubs centenary in 2021 but instead the topics of discussion have had to be about pods, pool time, social distancing, being beach ready and anti-bac gel.  Our membership has been amazing in their support, patience and accommodating and accepting all the necessary instructions required in order to deliver as much training as possible in and out of the pool.    

KEEP SWIMMING AFFORDABLE FOR ALL:  Why we need your help?

We don't receive any grants of funding from national bodies or have any sponsorship, we have to be self-funding.  Typically running costs are paid for by monthly fees from our members, but also hosting our own internal competitions and an external Open Meet which brings in other swimmers (and their entry fees) from outside the Club.  The Covid-19 pandemic prevented us from hosting any of these events and has financially hit us hard.

• During all 3 lockdowns we were unable to train and that meant we haven't been able to charge our regular fees
• When we could train between the first and second lockdowns, to keep our swimmers safe and comply with Swim England guidance, the number of swimmers per lane was limited.  This meant the pool time we had generated less income per swimmer
• LBSC has around 180 members and is run by volunteers as a not-for-profit organisation.  The Club has a strong history of planning financial stability but the impact of 2020 has been significant on the Club's finances.  With so many leisure facilities under financial pressure both pre and post Covid, pool hire fees have increased and whilst our swim fees and membership costs have increased each year for the past two years we want to make sure swimming remains affordable for our membership.  

A CLUB WITH HISTORY: 100 YEARS - Not bad for a club that started swimming in a local sand quarry.

Click here to view video of Years of History

For any volunteer-run Club to reach a 100 year anniversary is a major achievement and one that we are very proud of.  It is a result of so many people over the years giving up lots of their time to ensure the Club has continued.  A number of people involved in the Club today have been helping for many many years and some are former swimmers and despite the challenges of 2020 our goal is to ensure that the legacy of Leighton Buzzard Swimming Club continues for another 100 years.

CALLING THE LBSC ALUMNI?  ARE YOU ABLE TO HELP?

Our plan for 2021 is to celebrate the Centenary in the second half of the year but in the meantime our priority is to ensure Club has a secure future and we get our members training and hopefully competing again as soon as possible.  In the meantime as one of the rewards we have on offer is a adult sized Limited Edition T-shirt, supplied by Design Yours.  We hope the T-shirt will particularly appeal to past LBSC swimmers who enjoyed their association to this wonderful club and would like a little piece of history whilst additionally supporting us during these challenging times.  We don't want the remarkable achievement of reaching 100 years to be missed. 

Front and back design of the limited edition (100 available) T-shirt.

Thank you for taking the time to read about our story - we would welcome any support, big or small, you’re able to give.

This project successfully funded on 4th May 2021