Ward Freman Community Pool Group

The Pool

The Ward Freman swimming pool has been an important asset to Buntingford and the surround villages  since it was built in the 1970's. Originally built as part of the Ward Freman School it has been used to teach generations of children the life saving skill of the ability swim. The Buntingford Swimming Club has had to close after 47 years of operation and regular swimmers and participants of water aerobic classes are having to seek alternative venues to keep up their aquatic activities. 

When in 2011 the Ward Freman School became an academy and was renamed Freman College, the pool remained under the ownership of Hertfordshire County Council. Running costs were shared with East Herts District Council, who (most recently) contracted Everyone Active to manage the pool. The pool was open to schools only Mon - Fri 9-5.30pm with local schools such as Freman College, Edwinstree Middle, Layston First and Millfield First being able to walk pupils to the pool. Village schools such as Reed First and Jenyns Primary were also regular users.

The Learn to Swim programme of children's swimming lessons was very popular. Despite the facilities not being as modern as other leisure centres in Hertfordshire, the quality of teaching in a smaller, friendlier pool had its advantages with Everyone Active reporting 470 participants enrolled when the pool closed.

The Closure

In November 2023, East Herts District Council and Everyone Active announced that the pool would be closing 23rd December 2023 as the two councils could not afford the necessary tile repairs and upgrades to the outdated plant equipment that posed a potential health and safety risk.

The Future

Local residents were shocked and stunned by the decision to close the pool. After a few meetings hosted by district councillors, a group of people ready to take action was formed.  Both Hertfordshire County Council and East Herts District council agreed that the pool could become a community run asset by the community for the community if a suitable business plan was put forward.

The Ward Freman Community Pool Group was created and registered as a CIO charity (Reg. No. 1207746) in April 2024, committed to the reopening and renovation of the Ward Freman Swimming Pool in Buntingford.
Leading the group we have 8 trustees along with a team of volunteers from a range of backgrounds including finance and organisational change management as well as experience in charities and community groups. We are resident in Buntingford and surrounding villages, have a diverse age range but all are passionate about getting the swimming pool open again.

Trustees Joanne Willett, Philip Wylie, Alison Barr and Shelia White prior to meeting Hertfordshire County Council and East Herts District Council representatives on 8th April 2024.

Community Support
A survey was conducted in January 2024 to identify how the community would support the future reopening of the pool. It was clear from the 661 responses that the pool was loved by many and would be missed, forcing people to either stop their aquatic activities or drive 8 miles to another swimming pool. Reducing their physical activity and increasing the environmental impact. Many requested public access to the pool during day and increased weekend hours. The charity has used this data to create a timetable and predict visitor numbers which forms the basis of a business case that shows that the pool, with capital investment can be self sustaining.
A further impact survey was conducted in February 2025 which had 623 respondents.  From this it has been calculated that over the past year there has been a net increase of 181,886 miles driven by those who have continued their aquatic activity elsewhere. However 60 % of respondents report that their aquatic activity has decreased as a result of the pools closure. Only 3 of these respondents wouldn't consider using the pool in the future.

Why are we crowdfunding?

To achieve our vision of continuing to teach generations of children to swim, promote water safety and inspire the residents of Buntingford and surrounding villages to achieve their health and fitness goals, we need significant investment to reopen the pool. 

To do this, we need firstly to address the health and safety issue by replacing the original 1970's filtration, heating and chemical dosing systems and repair some broken pool tiles. These are the essential items that the council can no longer afford to do. 

The original plan in April 2024 was to apply for a Community Ownership Fund grant of £934,000 which would have seen the complete renovation of the pool. An expression of interest was accepted but due to the change in government this fund was prematurely closed.

The plan in 2025 is to work towards a phased approach to reopening and refurbishment. This is still a costly project but we are confident that between applying for grant funding and fundraising by the local community it is achievable. 

Phase 1 - Reopen the pool - raise funds to replace the filtration and chemical dosing systems and repair the broken pool tiles. This will allow the charity to reopen the doors with the dry side looking pretty much the same (apart from a deep clean and a new lick of paint) as when the doors closed in December 2023. This will cost about £400,000 and the charity currently (1st February 2025) has raised and had pledged £232,800.

Phase 1a - Interim Accessible Changing Room - 

Whilst not essential to getting the pool reopened, the current accessible changing room (pictured) is not really fit for purpose. It is accessed via the pool side which involves negotiating old heavy sliding doors and the raised channel in which they run.
Improved changing room accessibility and facilities is vital for enabling a dignified changing experience for anyone with an additional need.
The charity is currently scoping the feasibility and costs of creating an accessible changing room directly accessed from the reception area.

Phase 2 - Reduce the Environmental Impact  - The pool water was originally heated by oil fired boilers, the chimneys for which still remain. This system was replaced in the 1990's with gas boilers and we are now looking to invest in a more sustainable and cost effective combination of modern gas boilers and air source heat pumps. We would also like to create a sustainable source of electricity by utilising the large flat roof to install a solar panel array. Investing in a new air handling unit will reduce demand on the boilers/air source heat pump and improve the user experience in the pool hall. Depending on the number of solar panels, this phase will cost between £90,000 and £120,000

Phase 3 - Modernise the Changing Rooms  - The survey in 2024 indicated that barriers to previous attendance were cold and dated changing rooms with inadequate lockers and showers that were unreliable. The changing room experience is certainly outdated, uninviting and lacks any designated family changing spaces. The Charity has worked with architectural company G2 to create plans for a changing village, which have been displayed on the charity website and received over 90 comments. This phase will cost circa £120,000.

Phase 4 - Create a Community Space, diversifying income - There is at present a significant amount of redundant space in the building. G2 Architecture’s designs have reconfigured these spaces into a layout which creates a changing village and flexible use area incorporating a café with improved pool viewing.
It is intended that the flexible nature of this café viewing area will make the pool a destination venue, allowing spectators and pool users to remain after their activity to socialise. It will have its own toilets separate to the changing rooms and will be able to be partitioned, to provide a private space whilst enabling pool activities to run concurrently. It could provide a venue for such groups as the recently closed Buntingford Youth Club, (from which an indication of interest has been obtained) and groups working to prevent social isolation as well as private hire for parties or training. This phase will cost circa £150,000. The charity also considers it prudent to have a £100,000 contingency fund.
 

Once all these phases are complete, Buntingford and the surrounding villages will have a modern, fit for purpose facility that the community could be proud of which is self sustaining. 

Fundraising so far

The charity has been working with volunteers to raise money from sponsored events, selling pre loved books, competitions, selling our charity shopping bag, school non uniform days, and hosting events such as dances, quizzes, race nights and table top sales. Along with donations, in our first year of being a charity we have raised £23,500 (although we have already incurred £3,000 expenses).

Along side these events applications are also being made for grant funding.

We also have £200,000 pledged by East Herts District Council, £16,000 from s106 funding and £1,500 from Buntingford Town Council. 

So in total we have £238,000 towards our first target of £400,000. 

If you are able to donate to help reopen and refurbish the Ward Freman Swimming Pool please click the donate button.
If you have got an idea for an event and would like to fundraise like Helen Betley did swimming butterfly around Jersey raising £4,030, please click the "fundraise for this charity"  button. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details,  just a great idea!

Community impact - why is reopening the pool so important?

The benefits of a swimming pool are significant and wide-ranging to all members of the community.

• Learning to swim is a vital life skill which saves lives.
• Swimming or even just movement in water is a great, low impact activity for people with disabilities, injuries and long term conditions. 
• Club and lane swimming provides an opportunity for more intense physical activity.
• Aqua aerobics and similar exercise classes provide intense physical activity for those who can't swim and struggle to exercise on dry land. 
• Swimming is a fun social activity which friends, families and multi generations can all do together.
• Swimming improves health and physical fitness and is a great way to burn calories.
• Swimming has a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.
• It helps alleviate stress and boosts your mood.

If we can't reopen the Ward Freman swimming pool, these benefits will be lost forever to Buntingford and the 13 villages for which it is the closest pool. Only the affluent will be able to afford the extra cost of travelling to alternative swimming pools at least 7 miles away.
All the local schools (four of which were in walking distance) which used the Ward Freman pool have been unable to find capacity elsewhere and so our children are missing out on this vital lifesaving skill.

Our aspirations for the dry side refurbishment include a flexible social space with a small café which can be used by other groups to meet, such as the Friday Night Youth Group, which was recently closed by the county council. This space can also be partitioned to provide a smaller private area.

We have consulted on our plans with our immediate neighbour, Freman College who very much support us, as not only could they resume their swimming curriculum, house swimming and triathlon events, but they could once again benefit from the opportunities for work experience and part time employment for their sixth form students that the pool provided.   

We would also welcome volunteers in areas such as reception, café and non-specialised maintenance, perhaps fulfilled by older people, thus reducing social isolation. 

Reopening the pool is not just about swimming, but impact it has on the community and peoples safety and relationship with water wherever they may go.  

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. Don’t delay if you’re going to support us because momentum is key to our success! Just click the donate button.

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 by donating things we can offer to our supporters. We will give you a shout out!

4. Fundraise for us. Just like supporter Mark Lewis who hosts an annual charity golf day in memory of his late father, who was a PE teacher at Ward Freman School and taught many students to swim. In September 2024 his event raised £1,500.
If you have got an idea for an event and would like to fundraise like Helen Betley did swimming butterfly around Jersey raising £4,030, please click the "fundraise for this charity" button. Setting up your own page only takes a few minutes and you won’t need any bank details, just a great idea!