A fundraising campaign is underway to save a 100-year-old paddling pool in Denmark Hill that serves as a ‘lifeline’ to the local community.
Campaigners want £15,000 from the public crowdfunder to help fix the pool. Lambeth Council and other local groups and businesses are giving another £65,000.
Ruskin Park paddling pool was opened for the first time in the 1920s and was used until 2015, when it closed down because there was no money to maintain the site.
Locals launched a successful campaign then to reopen the pool, raising £15,000. But the pool closed again in March 2020, because of a broken water pump, followed by the start of the Covid-19 lockdown.
The pool was temporarily reopened again in July 2021, closing again in September. Now fundraisers want to get £15,000 in donations from the public for a full refurbishment, including the introduction of more water jets, a new plant room and equipment, repairs to the pool surface and a dedicated mains water supply.
Jim Dickson, Lambeth’s cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “This summer we’ve seen the paddling pool at its best, as a lifeline for parents and youngsters from across the community. It’s time to secure its long-term future with the full refurbishment it needs.”
Activists have raised more than £8,000 so far.
Click here to donate.