With the Mid Argyll Pipe Band in attendance, dinghy, kayak and water sports regalia

to the fore, the demonstration and march in support of the survival of the Mid Argyll Swimming Pool takes place tomorrow.

The march

It’s YOUR pool. Be there to be counted. If it’s wet, it’s appropriate. Don’t be put off. If it snows, enjoy the sight of the dinghy and the kayak scything their way through the snowflakes. If it’s frosty, hold on to each other – that’s what the whole thing’s about – communal action to protect a community asset that has no alternative.

Meet at 10.30am at the Pool itself. The band will lead off at 11.00am for the March. Read our previous article for ideas on what to wear and what to do. Have fun. Make your feelings heard. The new Board of the Pool have never stopped in their efforts to renew the Pool and save it for the community. They’ll be staggering into Christmas, lost in time and space, with no time to remember where they are. Give them a lift by showing your own support.

A small amount of your time can ram home to the Council how important this facility is to people of all ages across Mid Argyll. You’ll feel better for doing your bit. Make this your Christmas present to yourself and your community.

Council Leader, Dick Walsh and CEO, Sally Loudon were both offered the opportunity to speak and both have declined the offer.

There will be speeches from Dave Payne, Jamie McGrigor, MSP and a local family with some views from the deep end.

National concern

Across the UK, swimming pools are being run down, badly maintained, closing and not replaced. There is less swimming in Primary Schools than there was 30 years ago. Westminster’s Department of Culture Media and Sport distorts the real picture by deliberately confusing private and hotel pools with public pools – meaning it counts the lot, claiming a service that is far from the case.

While local authorities are at fault they are not the only culprits. Governments require an increasingly healthy nation without putting the necessary resources behind the call.

The Daily Telegraph is campaigning nationally for swimming pools because their loss is a national reduction in public health and safety. Young children are always falling in to things. If they can swim and they fall into water their survival chances are good. If they can’t… Argyll lives by water – on the islands, the coast and by the great inland freshwater lochs.

Existing and new support for the Sink or Swim campaign

Existing support for the Mid Argyll Pool includes:

• Jim Mather, Argyll’s MSP
• Alan Reid, Argyll’s MP
• Jamie McGrigor, Highlands & Islands MSP and a Dalmally man
• Dave Thompson, Highlands & Islands MSPs, based in Dingwall
• Dougie Philand, Councillor for Mid Argyll, resigned from the Alliance of Independent Councillors (leading partner in the current ruling coalition with the SNP), in protest against lack of adequate Council support for the Pool

Now a fellow Highlands & Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant has added her voice to the campaign and introduced another helpful issue.

Ms Grant has called again for the Scottish Government to look at non-domestic water rates relief for community swimming pools like the Mid Argyll Community Pool.

She says: ‘It is vital that services such as the Mid Argyll Community Pool are helped and not hindered in their efforts in keeping their pools open.

‘I have now written twice to the Scottish Government asking for water rates relief and they have twice refused to help. I am very concerned at the situation facing the Mid Argyll Community Pool and it is indeed disappointing that the Scottish Government has no plans to extend the exemption scheme which could have helped in this case’.

The Pool

The Mid Argyll Swimming Pool:

• is a 4 lane pool, 20 metres long
• with disabled access and a hoist
• with a gym with cardiovascular and resistance equipment
• offers fitness sessions for all age groups
• provides swimming lessons
• hosts a national triathlon event
• is available for hire to individuals, clubs and for children’s parties
• has a committed staff whose loyalty and expertise is a key strength

It offers a suite of memberships to suit everyone – individual adults, juniors, couples and families. There are Full Memberships covering all facilities; Pool Only, Gym Only and Off Peak Memberships.

Use it or lose it. Support it or lose it.

This Pool, for reasons the Council has never attempted to explain but doggedly defends nevertheless -  receives the least financial support from the Council by a very long way.

In simple fairness, this has to change.

See you tomorrow.