Local swimming club, Street & District, have launched a Crowdfunding project to help their swimmers return to the pool safely as soon the government deems it safe to do so.

Since swimming pools shut their doors in March due to the Covid-19 crisis the club's members have been unable to train. Street & District Swimming Club chairman, Darren Hunter-Clarke, explained the impact that this has had on the swimmers and the club's future activities.

"We are keen to get our 130 swimmers back to doing what they love as soon as possible; we know it has been a really difficult time for them and they have missed training with their friends.

We know that our operating costs will be increased when we return with social distancing measures in place - we are a parent run club and simply don't have the financial reserves needed to see us through a crisis of this duration. We had to cancel our meet in April, losing £6,000 of expected income, and all of our usual fundraising activities have been curtailed by the ongoing crisis."

The club hopes to use the money raised to support with increased pool costs due to social distancing measures, and to retain the services of their coaches. It also aims to continue to support members who are experiencing financial difficulties that might otherwise prevent them returning to swimming.

The club has applied for partner-funding through a Sport England initiative to increase their Crowdfunding potential. If successful, Sport England will pledge to add to the monies raised by matchfunding all donations.

The club's Head Coach, Paul Ritchie, said "Our club has been helping children learn to swim and compete since 1976 and we need the help of the local community so we can keep doing this for many more years. We hope that parents, friend, ex-swimmers and local sports lovers will all feel able to donate our cause and help us to keep our young people swimming!"

You can see and donate to the club's Crowdfunding appeal here : the crowdfunder site