[Cleveland Pools]

[Cleveland Pools] April 2012 Update

April 2012 Update
The project to restore the Cleveland Pools has reached a new milestone in 2012.
With continued support from English Heritage and approval by Bath and North East Somerset Council, urgent repairs are about to commence: e.g. repairs to roofs, guttering and downpipes and careful clearance of invasive undergrowth surrounding the cottage and changing rooms. The work has been put out to tender, a contractor chosen and licences arranged so work will commence shortly.
Weeding and grass-cutting sessions by volunteers will continue with an evening session arranged for Friday 27th April between 6 � 8 pm. These sessions are planned to try and keep the grass and paving clear so that extra visits can be arranged safely during the summer. If you're interested please come along suitably dressed with, if you wish, any gardening implements you think might be useful. For more information contact Janice on 314522.
Second Sunday of the month morning sessions are finished for the moment unless there is a demand !
The Trustees and a volunteer Project Manager have worked tirelessly throughout the winter on completing a Stage 1 bid for Heritage Lottery funding. The bid was submitted in time for the April 5th deadline and will hopefully be considered at the July HLF Board meeting. If we obtain funding for the next Development Stage, the hard work will really begin!
The Cleveland Pools Trust
http://www.clevelandpools.org.uk

[Cleveland Pools] Christmas 2011 newsletter

2011 is about to end and what a year it has been! We have seen some progress at last with our endeavours.
Following the local elections in May, the Trustees wrote to all the successful candidates asking for their help with our project to re-open the Pools. The new administration and their officers have been supportive ever since, generously providing rooms for meetings and a small grant to help with the planning application process.
Heritage Lottery Fund, Round One Application
Over the last few months our focus has been on preparing the Round One application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. This is probably the only route to the potential scale of funds that we need to reopen the Pools with a heated swimming pool and the meeting of all modern standards required for health and safety and public access. The application has two stages � the first stage (or Round One) is for development funding to enable us to prepare for the capital works and to develop our business planning. If successful, the second stage follows some time later and that will be an application to fund the works on site and all activity leading to opening up the Pools again for the public. The application is complex and time consuming and there is significant competition for HLF funding. The next Round One submission deadlines are in mid-February and early April. B&NES council are supporting the prospective application and councillors have expressed a commitment to reopen the Pools.
Fund-raising
To complement our HLF application we will embark on a sizeable fund raising initiative in the New Year. We are currently working on a strategy that will aim to raise at least �800,000. This will need a concerted effort from a number of volunteers, drafting applications to charitable trusts and donors. The council have offered us the use of the Assembly Rooms for a special launch event. We will need to deploy volunteers� PR and marketing skills to promote the fund raising effort.
2011 Heritage Open Days and Charities Fair
In the past the Heritage Open Days each September have been the only way to show the Pools to the public. Several hundred come every year and have bought raffle tickets for the Bath Charities Annual Fair in November. This has been our main way of raising small amounts of money to pay for leaflets, insurance etc plus of course generous donations from the public. We could not manage without the team of volunteers who have weeded, produced new display material, acted as stewards and have provided items to sell at the Fair. So thanks again to everyone who has helped. Hundreds of questionnaires on paper, online and via social networking have been collected recently and the responses collated, to gauge the public�s view of swimming at the Pools. Names of those willing to take part in the Oral History project were also collected.
Oral History Project
The Heritage Open Days have demonstrated that a significant proportion of visitors had memories of swimming in the Cleveland Pools, some learned how to swim there, and most wanted future generations to enjoy this unique amenity. Bath Spa University have an Oral History specialism and positively welcomed the opportunity to direct and support an Oral History project, recording memories in written form and if practical, producing a DVD that can be used as exhibition material.
Heritage Education Programme
Another volunteer, who is on a Heritage Management Masters degree course at Bath Spa University, has taken on a co-ordinating role for our formative Heritage Education programme. This involves systematically building on existing requests for talks and discussions with �communities of interest� such as Local History Societies, Heritage organisations, University of the Third Age, schools and University liaison.
Swimmers
Another volunteer, is to make contact with all local swimming groups including schools, to check out their potential interest in using the Pools. We understand that triathletes and canoeists might be interested in using the pool for training purposes.
Site Clearance
At the request of some of the weeding volunteers, regular sessions are now taking place for a couple of hours on the second Sunday of the month at 10 am weather permitting. The last two sessions have mainly involved leaf sweeping but do come and join us. You never know you might get to see the kingfisher close up.
New Project Manager
We now have a volunteer project manager, Rob Harding. Rob has recently retired from English Heritage and he brings a wealth of experience that has informed the substantial work that he has contributed for the HLF Round one application. Another volunteer, is working with Rob on developing project and programme management for the Pools project.
Volunteer book keeper needed!
A current priority is to recruit a volunteer book keeper�..Do you know anyone who would be willing to be a book keeper for the project? If so, please ask them to contact Ann Dunlop or Janice Dreisbach.
Last but not least, we would also like to recruit a volunteer who would be the volunteer co-ordinator � anyone interested?
Thank you again for all of your support in the last year. Enjoy your festive season � 2012 is going to be an even bigger challenge!
Happy Christmas from the Cleveland Pools Trustees.
The Cleveland Pools Trust
www.clevelandpools.org.uk
Company No: 5354621�� Charity No: 1109433
Reg : Acacia Lodge, Kensington Place, Bath BA1 6AP

[Cleveland Pools] Weeding volunteers wanted this Sunday

Volunteers are invited to join a weeding and clearance work party at the Cleveland Pools this Sunday between 10.00 am and noon. Come suitably dressed and, if you wish, with any gardening implements you think might be useful.
For more information contact Janice on 314522.
Thanks,
The Cleveland Pools Trust
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[Cleveland Pools] Bath Charities Fair, 5 November

Cleveland Pools Trust were delighted to receive �310 from the Waitrose store charity appeal in September. Thanks for all everyone�s shopping support.
Maintenance sessions are being carried out at the Pools on 2nd Sunday of each month at 10am. Volunteers are welcome; come with gloves and secateurs, if possible.
Our next fundraising event will be a stall at the Bath Charities Annual Fair on 5th November 10am � 2pm. As usual we are looking for donations of quality items to sell � eg books, puzzles, china and glass, jewellery, bric a brac, jams, chutneys etc but sorry no clothes. We can collect if necessary.
Contact Ann at bath.dunlops@btinternet.com or on 428697 for more information.
CLEVELAND POOLS TRUST
Company no 5354621, Charity no 1109433
http://www.clevelandpools.org.uk

[Cleveland Pools] Heritage Open Days, 2011

A huge thank you to everyone who helped at the Heritage Open Days at the Cleveland Pools last weekend. Weren't we lucky with the weather except for the downpour at the very end ? Things have dried out and nothing seems to have suffered too much.

Thank you to the weeders, scythers and strimmers who worked so hard beforehand preparing the site and to all those at the end who packed everything up and carried it up the path.

Thanks to Holly and Sally for their hard work preparing the new information panels and to Holly for moving us into the 21st century with facebook and twitter.

Thanks to Ainslie and her sister for their sales skills with the raffle tickets. They sold an amazing �300 + for funds and we had good donations as well.

Thanks to our life guards Geoff and Gill; thankfully not needed !

And of course thanks to the 600+ visitors.

What next ?

We need to get more questionnaires completed. Can you distribute at work or your club or your children's school, perhaps ? The Oral History project will start soon - do you have neighbours or friends who swam at the Pools ?

There will be a weeding/maintenance working group on site at 10am on Sunday 9th October weather permitting. We hope to have a priority action plan of urgent works to do before the weeds take over even more.

Finally another date for your diary is the Bath Charities Annual Fair on Saturday 5th November from 10am - 2.30pm. As usual we shall be looking for quality things to sell to raise funds.

Thanks again

Best wishes from

Trustees of the Cleveland Pools Trust

[Cleveland Pools] August 2011 update (& volunteers wanted)

Apologies for the radio silence but it has been a very busy time over recent months for the Cleveland Pools Trust trustees who now number six. The founding ones � Janice Dreisbach, Ann Dunlop and Roger Houghton and now three more - Jo Booker, Linda Watts and Ainslie Ensom.
We wanted to update you on what is happening in relation to the Pools because we are heading into a key period when major funding applications will be made, based on detailed plans and a confirmed vision for the future use of the Pools.
Following grant funding from English Heritage, a substantial programme of assessment of the Pools site took place in 2010, continuing into 2011. The assessments included specialist analyses including engineering, building condition, access to and within the site, flooding risk and arboriculture. The pool was drained last autumn and the good news is that the underlying structure of the main pool is basically sound.
The assessment reports were taken into account during the preparation of a comprehensive business plan. This has been completed to the standard that would be expected by potential funders of large scale heritage projects. A summary of the plan is available on the website <http://www.clevelandpools.org.uk>; for anyone who is interested.
The confirmed vision of the Alliance (comprising the CPT Trustees, the Prince�s Regeneration Trust and the Trevor Osborne Property Group) is that the Pools should be restored as a leisure facility for both the community and visitors to the area, while carefully preserving the uniqueness and heritage of the site. The vision draws on the views of the 900 plus visitors who attended the Heritage Open Days at the Pools last September.
So the plans include a children�s splash pool and refreshments for visitors in addition to a small heritage exhibition. Swimming would be offered in the restored and heated 25 metre outdoor pool, with changing rooms and shower facilities. Natural water treatment is the preferred solution and is also more cost effective. The future use of the site would need to include a number of events as this will be important to contribute to revenue income. We would hope to keep these to a minimum as restoring public swimming to this historic site is still the main aim of the CPT.
We have been lucky in that we have been able to recruit new volunteers whose skills include finance, marketing, publishing and public relations and hopefully we can soon add a volunteer lawyer with experience in charity law and a volunteer co-ordinator to our team.
A pre-application bid has been made to the Heritage Lottery Fund by the CPT and we have recently had a meeting at the Pools with our HLF case officer to discuss the project in more detail. He gave us helpful advice on what we should do to make our plans even more robust.
The other positive news is that we have now had meetings with councillors as well as officers who have been far more encouraging than at any stage since 2005, when the Cleveland Pools Trust was formed. This is a very important step change as our HLF officer pointed out. B&NES are the owners of the site after all and without their support and the willing granting of a lease, HLF would be unlikely to offer us any money � and who would blame them?
It is an exciting time but we have a vast amount of work to do and still hope to achieve as much as possible with expert volunteer input to keep the costs down. We have to prove that the community and its children and young people not only wants but needs to be able to swim in safety in the open air in a chemical free environment. So surveys will be needed to confirm these earlier findings.
We are in the early stages of organising an Oral History project, gathering people�s memories and experiences of swimming at the Pools in the last century, so if you or anyone you know would like to be interviewed do get in touch.
The national Heritage Open Days are fast approaching and we have permission to open the Pools to the public as before on the afternoons of 9th, 10th and 11th September from 2 � 5pm. We shall need volunteer stewards to help us on those three afternoons as well as enthusiastic gardeners to help us prepare the site.
Contact details in the first instance to Ann at :-
bath.dunlops@btinternet.com
or ring (01225) 428697
or write to Acacia Lodge, Kensington Place Bath BA1 6AP
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[Cleveland Pools] Help & donations wanted for the Charities Fair

This is our regular appeal for help for the next main fundraising opportunity for the Cleveland Pools Trust. The event where we shall have a stall is the Bath Charities Annual Fair on Saturday 13th November from 10am - 2.30pm at the Guildhall.

We have some big bills to pay following the work last month by surveyors and builders who are exploring the feasibility of reopening the pools. We still await the final reports but were pleased to hear that the walls of the main pool were in surprisingly good condition considering their age.
We are making the usual request for donations for us to sell at the Fair. We would like quality items so please look in the loft, turn out your cupboards and drawers, jewellery boxes and bookshelves and for any unwanted gifts. Do you have a spare jar of jam or pickle perhaps? We cannot take clothes or shoes or large pieces of furniture, I am afraid.
Contact Ann by phone (01225 428697) or by email <bath.dunlops@btopenworld.com> to arrange delivery or collection.

Finally we still have books of raffle tickets to sell - only 25p a ticket or �1 a book. (�100 first prize; there are always other valuable prizes including, this year, a Bath rugby shirt signed by the current squad.) Every pound comes to the CPT so if you think you can sell some to friends, family and colleagues please contact me.

Any offers to help on the day, even for half an hour, would be much appreciated.

All good wishes

Ann
<bath.dunlops@btopenworld.com>

[Cleveland Pools] Heritage Open Days - volunteers wanted

Hi, everyone

Well, the builders have started work emptying the main pool and this should be completed tomorrow. Other surveying of the site will also take place and the pool will be refilled again later in the week. The consultants will then discuss the findings and will hopefully be in a much better position to advise the Cleveland Pools Trust and the other members of the Cleveland Pools Alliance on the possible options.

We hope to have some idea of these possibilities to show people by the Heritage Open Days on 10 - 12 September.

This is hopefully where you can help us in one of two ways - weeding beforehand and helping on the Open Day afternoons.

The builders should have departed by next Monday (6th) so we shall have three days to tidy up. We had amazing help with weeding a few weeks back so hopefully there is not too much to do.

As you will remember from helping before B&NES require us to have a certain number of stewards to 'supervise' the visitors. We are allowed to have 80 people at a time on site this year which should prevent the queueing we had one year.

We have to have someone on the gate counting people in and three or four stewards around the pool making sure that people behave responsibly.

We have Bath Charity Annual Fair raffle tickets to sell as before where all the money raised comes to the Cleveland Pools Trust.

We should have some new information boards as well as the marketing consultants attending to talk to visitors and ask for their opinions about possibly swimming in the future.

We already have some offers of help but if you can spare an hour or two on the Friday 10th, Saturday 11th or Sunday 12th we would love to see you. Please let me know your preferred day and I'll prepare a rota.

Enjoy the sunshine now it has returned.

Regards

Ann
01225 428697
<bath.dunlops@btopenworld.com>

[Cleveland Pools] Correction

Apologies � second phone number should be 01225 314522.

[Cleveland Pools] August update / Heritage Open Day volunteers wanted

Hi,

It's that time of year again when the Cleveland Pools Trust needs your help both before and at the Heritage Open Days. Apologies if you have moved away, your circumstances have changed or if you receive this message several times over. Please pass this on to anyone who you think might be able to help or who would be interested in coming to the Open Days.

The current situation is as stated in our latest Press Release which says :-

"The ongoing saga to reopen these 19th century pools for bathing has reached a new milestone. August sees the start of a Detailed Options Study. This will include an in-depth survey of the physical features of the site and its structures. Test pits will be dug, the pools will be emptied, surveyed and hopefully, after our very own 'Time Team' investigation, the Trust, supporters and members of the Alliance will know just what we are dealing with and the work involved in bringing them to an appropriate standard for 21st century bathing. In parallel market and business appraisals are being undertaken to ensure that we arrive at an economically sustainable solution."

The above is potentially very exciting and we have been waiting for work to start for several months now. Being realistic the timing is rather inconvenient, bearing in mind the preparation needed before the afternoons of the Heritage Open Days on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th September. Added to which much of the building has been vandalised again with graffiti but the council have agreed to paint this over before the Open Days.

Volunteers for grass cutting and weeding will be required beforehand as in previous years and several stewards will be needed on the three afternoons we are able to open. Volunteer lifeguards and first aiders will be especially welcomed as before.

There are limited opportunities for CPT to gain access to the site as the engineers/builders will be there from 23rd August until 6th September; it follows that, because of potential hazards, they and the council do not want other people wandering about what will be a building site, getting in the way or hurting themselves.

So is anyone available before 'they' start? eg any evening next week (16th - 20th) - say from 5.30pm onwards for a couple of hours?

The next possible slot for a working party will hopefully be after the investigations are completed between Sept 7th and 9th when there will undoubtedly be lots of tidying up to do and when we shall do a risk assessment for the public visits.

I know it is short notice but it is out of our hands and we have to hope that nothing goes wrong that causes a major delay.

I do hope that some of you will be able to help as you have in the past, either beforehand or for an hour two on the day. We hope to have new displays showing what has been going on.

With all good wishes from the Cleveland Pools Trust and its Alliance partners.

For more information and to offer to help please email bath.dunlops@btinternet.com (tel. 01225 428697) or jdreisbach@btconnect.com (tel. 01225 31522).

[Cleveland Pools] Volunteers needed - take the plunge!

*** Please send any responses to lindawatts@myway.com ***
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Cleveland Pools - volunteers needed - take the plunge!
The current position is that as you may be aware, we have been fortunate in gaining a significant grant from English Heritage and generous donations from the Duke of Cornwall's Benevolent Fund and the Trevor Osborne Property Group to help to pay for the Feasibility studies. A project architect was appointed last year and project engineers (Integral) have been appointed to work on the technical brief. A robust bid including a Business Plan is critical if the Alliance is to have any chance of being awarded further funding from English Heritage, but a key intermediate step is to obtain planning permission.
Meanwhile, in this key developmental period we do need some skilled volunteers! Volunteer roles could range from occasional volunteering to more regular involvement and, potentially, a trustee role, depending on the level of interest and involvement. The timescale for involvement could range from a few months to some years.
In a nutshell, we need the following skills - but if you have other skills that you could offer, do please let us know.
Project Organiser
The Cleveland Pools Trust needs a volunteer project organiser (or the role could be split between two or possibly three volunteers with complementary skills). The project organiser will assist with the adaptation of the 19th century open air swimming pools in order to bring them back into use whilst maintaining their links with the past. The pools are listed Grade II* so their position as the oldest public open air pool in the country and their link with the history of outdoor swimming must be maintained.
Experience of project management or project co-ordination is essential, particularly with reference to capital projects. This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced person to develop their experience while they are not currently employed in a paid role, as it will be a valuable contribution to a C.V.

Auditor
The Trust needs a volunteer auditor who can audit the accounts of the Trust.
An audit provides an independent evaluation of how a Board is performing financially, through proving the accuracy of their financial statements. This transparency also adds credibility to the Board, assuring interested parties (funders, beneficiaries, regulators, volunteers, community etc) that financial management is aligned with Board objectives as outlined in the governing document.A recognised appropriate professional qualification is needed which implies a thorough knowledge of the principles, procedures and practices of accounting and financial records and transaction. A current licence to practice in this country and relevant experience is also needed - this could suit a retired accountant/auditor.
Treasurer/Financial Planner
The Trust needs a volunteer treasurer/financial planner. The overall role of the volunteer treasurer is to maintain an overview of the financial position and oversight of the accounts, including keeping a watching brief on the content and structure of the books to ensure that appropriate postings are made. (Acknowledging that there is a subtle difference in the way in which incoming funds are treated by Tax Department relative to their source)
This role will involve an element of fundraising or at the very least the identification of suitable sources of funding and will be part of the fundraising team. The Treasurer will contribute to drawing up documentation which can be used in all funding applications, the main difference between applications being contained in the covering letters and making sure that everything is aligned to make it fulfil, as far as is possible, the aims of the funding body. Financial qualifications and experience and some experience of charity finance and fundraising are important.
Fund Raisers
The Trust needs volunteer fund raisers to generate funding for the Cleveland Pools project from local sources in Bath and the wider area by means of street collections in appropriate locations and attendance at a range of local events using display material and information. An indicative initial programme of relevant events is in preparation. Volunteer fundraisers will be asked to develop that forward programme and to contribute their own ideas about further local fund raising activity.
The time commitment could vary depending on the number of volunteer fund raisers who are available but the largest number of local events take place at weekends during the May-September period during each year.It is not intended that volunteer fund raisers operate on their own � rather a small team basis is proposed as being in the best interest of volunteer fund raisers.Some experience of community based fund raising is essential.
* Please do circulate this request for volunteers among your own networks if that is appropriate and okay with you.
Further information can be supplied on request.
Linda Watts, <lindawatts@myway.com>
On behalf of the Cleveland Pools Trustees

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*** Responses please to lindawatts@myway.com ***
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