Save Shrewsbury Swimming Club

Aim

Save & Support Shrewsbury Amateur Swimming Club

Be a Superstar & Support Shrewsbury Amateur Swimming Club

Who are we?

Founded in 1894, Shrewsbury Amateur Swimming Club is a friendly, competitive swimming club, catering for swimmers of all abilities and ages. We provide a structure that will enable swimmers to progress from Stage 7 to National Champions.

Our aim is to create well rounded young athletes through a stimulating, challenging and competitive environment. Championed by dedicated coaches and volunteers our swimmers are supported to reach their individual potential.

Since Covid we have faced falling numbers in our membership, increased fees for pool hire and a gap in children joining us because of the impact of Covid. Our club swimmers range from 7yrs old to 20yrs old across our Junior & Senior squads. We have swimmers training for County, Regional and National competitions;we strive for greatness and podium/medal success, ensuring each individual swimmer is supported to achieve their goals. 

Community impact

Over the past 2 years due to Covid-19 we have been unable to hold swim meets which are the financial lifeline that swimming clubs need. 

In July this year we received the devastating news that our local competition pool has had to close due to roof damage & will remain closed for the foreseeable future. This means we are still unable to run our Competition Open Meets and with no date in the near future as to when we can hold one again we have lost in excess of £15,000 expected income.

This fund is designed to enable Shrewsbury Amateur Swimming Club to maintain our:

• Pool hire
• Coaches

And to: 

• Replace old and broken swim training equipment
• Increase training opportunities for our coaches & volunteers
• Host community swimming events to encourage new young people into club swimming

Our pool hire in Shrewsbury costs the club over £30K per annum with year-on-year cost increases. With our drop in member numbers due to the impact of Covid 19 our club cannot sustain the increasing costs. For us it is simple - we want our young people to be able to train with their friends, maintain a high level of fitness & to achieve their goals of being the best they can be. We have the most dedicated and resilient young people in Shropshire and we can't see our club suffer because of financial impacts out of our control. We must succeed to support our communities next generation of swimmers. 

Swimming is more than just a sport to many of our members; it's a way of life. Being part of the Shrewsbury Swim Family is crucial to their wellbeing, not just physically but mentally. 

Swimming gives many transferable skills:

• Perseverance
• Dedication
• Coordination
• time-keeping
• confidence 

It helps to keep young people fit, gives them a purpose, they make new friends and it is very good for mental health which our swimmers value greatly. 

As a member of a competitive team, it means our young swimmers need to be organised, disciplined and resilient. All valuable life skills.

Why are we crowdfunding?

Unfortunately, none of us knew what the last two years had in store or its long-term impacts.  As all our usual revenue generating activities have been put on hold we are looking for other ways to raise funds to see us through these difficult times. 

We are aiming to bridge the gap between the fees our members pay and the costs of pool hire, coaching and training our volunteer coaches and swimming officials. We have some terrific coaches and we want to support & retain them at the club.

How we’ll spend the money raised

The money raised will go towards:

• Paying our pool hire
• Coaching costs
• Replacing broken training equipment
• Training for our coaches and volunteers
• Establishing a hardship grant for swimmers whos’ families are affected by the cost of living crisis
• Hosting community swimming events

As a Community Sports Club this crowdfunding campaign will also be applying for match funding from the Sport England 'Active Together' fund. Should we be successful in our application, we could receive a pledge of between 30-50% of our target. This will only be secured if we hit our target and do so through a minimum number of unique supporters stipulated by Sport England – so please, please support us by donating to our campaign.

We hope that all our extended swimming family, ex-swimmers and supporters and local community will be able to help us and donate towards keeping our current swimmers in the pool and provide opportunities for future athletes for years to come. 

How you can play your part:

There are four simple ways to help us reach our target and make this project a reality.

1. Make a pledge and support us. Don’t delay because momentum is key to our success!

2. Spread the word. Share our project on your social media pages and tell the world to get behind us! The more people we reach, the more support we will get.

3. Offer rewards & get involved. If you are a local business please donate a gift or service we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. If you want to run your own fundraiser to support us, maybe a sponsored activity or similar, use the 'contact project' button at the top of our page to let us know. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details. Just a fun idea!

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made