Comberton Community Swimming Club operates throughout the summer at the Village College outdoor pool.
The pool is heated to an average of 27 C and is valued by its members as a family friendly community facility.
A First Safety officer and Second Safety Officer provide pool safety cover while two Administrators oversee entry to the pool and clean up after the session. Sessions are usually two hours long.
As the name implies, it is run by the members with one member of each family giving time to help run the sessions. Most families provide help as an administrator on average once or twice a season, on a rota basis. This involves a 2 hourly session in the admission hut mainly controlling entry to the pool and issuing swimming bands to members.
Some members also act as Safety Officers, again on a rota basis. This is on a voluntary basis and the club trains these volunteers to a recognised standard. Good swimmers are welcome to train as Safety Officers but this is not a requirement of joining the club.
Club duties
- The club runs successfully due to the commitment of its members who give their time to run the sessions.
- One adult member from each family must provide help as a First Safety Officer, a Second Safety Officer or an Administrator.
- Safety Officers are typically rostered for 5-7 duties unless he/she offers more.
- Administrators are typically rostered for 2/3.
- We urge competent swimmers to please volunteer for Second Safety Officer for which no Formal qualifications are required or to take the training for First Safety Officer.
- Administrators: No Formal training required but must have a good knowledge of the club rules & your duties.
The new season is upon us so new members will be able to start swimming immediately. Please fill in both the application and rota forms to apply to join. You could be swimming all summer.
Our pool is probably Cambridgeshire’s best kept secret, a gem located next to Comberton Village College. All members are required to contribute to the running of the club by either manning our ticket booth or taking on duties as a first or second safety officer.
Come along to any of our sessions to see our facilities.
The pool is open from middle of May until the middle of September at the following times:
Sat & Sun 3.00 – 5.00 pm
Mon 6.00 – 8.30 pm
Tues 7.30 – 9.0 pm (Adults only)
Weds 6.00 – 8.30 pm
Fri 6.00 – 8.30 pm
Tues & Thurs 2.30 – 4.30 pm (summer hols only)
See website calendar for season start and finish dates
For further information or to join please telephone 01223 263250. E-mail: @">@ or visit their website here or follow twitter feed here
History
The Comberton swimming pool, so much a part of village life in the summer was constructed by a good deal of cooperative village and inter-village activity in the early 1970’s. Like many other pools, users paid for admission at the kiosk and a paid lifeguard was on duty. This system of operation ran into financial difficulties due to increasing costs, a reduction in funding from the county and a run of poor summers.
By the spring of 1981 there was a real danger that swimming at Comberton would come to an end. However under the leadership of Harry Brown the present club was established in order to provide community swimming along the lines already followed successfully for a number of years by other clubs in the area.
The club operates by inviting applications from families in the catchment area of the Village College. Members pay a subscription which is the same whether the family numbers one or ten, and this meets many of the costs of running the pool. The main contribution made by families is the volunteering of services. At all the club swimming sessions there needs to be on duty two “Safety Officers”, to supervise the pool and two “Administration Officers” to handle admissions and back up the Safety Officers. At least one member of each family is required to assist in some officer capacity and it is important for plenty of volunteers particularly Safety Officers to be forthcoming if the club is to run all of the planned sessions.
The pool is usually open from mid May to mid September, and swimming sessions are run throughout each week according to a staffing rota prepared by the Rota Secretary usually twice in a season. The number of sessions available per week is fixed each year according to the number of qualified Safety Officers volunteering their services. The aim is to run nine two hour sessions per week.
For many years since the Club was formed the cost of running the pool has been divided between the Village College and the Community Swimming Club with the Club paying for the heating oil, a proportion of the treatment chemicals, provision of the pool covers and rollers, commissioning and decommissioning at the start and finish of the swimming season and some of the major plant and infrastructure costs. The Village College have looked after the day to
day testing of the water, filling of the pool at the start of the season, emergency telephone and electricity costs, a proportion of the chemical costs, and general site maintenance etc.
In recent years with changes in the Village College management structure there has been a move to the Swimming Club paying a fixed annual fee for the use of the pool with all running costs being administered by the Village College.
It is often thought that the Community Swimming Club controls the use of the pool. This is not actually the case, the swimming club and the school are the dominant users of the pool, but it is also used by a number of other clubs on a regular or occasional basis. It can be hired by an individual or by another club. In all of these cases the Community Council of the Village College will levy a charge, and it is the Community Council which is ultimately responsible.