Since 1957, Archbishop Ilsley has been the heart of Acocks Green, a deprived area of Birmingham. We have strived to make anyone who comes through our doors a well-rounded individual and a good member of our society. One of the unique factors of our school is that we are able to offer our community access to our swimming pool and have done for nearly 50 years, when it was first opened in 1973. In the last year alone, over 3000 individual people used our pool. With such high usage, it has become inevitable that our pool has succumbed to years of wear and tear, suffering with internal leaks for the last 18 months. In the summer holidays, we did some investigations and have found a serious leak in the pipe underneath the deck area.

As a result of these investigations we have had to close the pool. Before it can reopen, we will need to dig up the deck, repair the leak, then relay the concrete and tiles. This will come at a substantial cost. The school has some funding to help with the repair but we need your help to raise money for the repair of our pool.

Our pool is not fancy or posh, but it is an excellent teaching pool and thousands of our pupils, and pupils from neighbouring primary schools, have benefited from learning to swim in it, with some learning to become lifeguards too. It is a fantastic resource that teaches children to swim, a life skill that is so important. We have found that roughly a third of our yearly intake cannot swim 25 meters unaided, which is the national target at the end if year six! The pool offers invaluable education and allows us to give these pupils the opportunity to achieve the life skill of learning to swim. We have championed the use of our pool on Friday’s so that those from the poorest backgrounds still have access to free swimming lessons. These lessons have been full every week! With the lack of government funding in the community, our pupils do not have the opportunities to swim and stay fit outside of school because most cannot afford private lessons.

The school has generated some income from the pool as independent groups and swimming schools rent the pool from us. All the money raised from these lettings is reinvested back into the school for resources, building repairs and extra-curricular activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. Many schools have drastically cut or removed extra-curricular activities from their community offering. At Archbishop Ilsley, we disagree with reducing this offering to our community as it helps make the well-rounded citizens we want. The pool is being sadly missed by our community groups that use it too, the scouts have used it weekly since 1984 and various parish groups. All are hoping that the pool is up and running soon!

The money you donate will go directly to the cost of repair to get the pool up and running again. We are in uncertain times and school budgets are increasingly being squeezed. This is why we are asking for your help. The community of Archbishop Ilsley are going to organise fundraising events and we, as a school, are seeking funding from local business and organisations to supplement the cost of the work. This crowd funding page will help with the initial work needed and jump start the community effort to bring the pool back to life!