Swimming school hasn’t given up

There is a glimmer of hope for the Elite School of Swimming, which was forced to stop its lessons at Gurnard Pines recently with the loss of eight jobs.

As previously reported, the gym and pool closed at the end of January, after the previous leaseholder failed to keep up with the terms of his agreement.

The annual running costs of running the pool are in excess of £230,000 per annum and, although the pool was offered to the Elite School of Swimming, they were unable to fund it. However, Elite School, director Paul Hewison, whose daughters, Melissa and Emma, run the business, said this week: “We have managed to secure three hours of pool time at the Urban Saints Westbrook Centre, Ryde.

“We can probably only accommodate 20 per cent of our 500 members but it will be just about enough for Melissa and Emma to have some sort of employment.

“We are now looking elsewhere to secure some more pool time, but there is not much out there.

“It’s been devastating for us, but we are not giving up without a fight; we have a lot of support locally. If we can get some more pool time then, maybe, we can save some of the other jobs.”

Lessons start on March 18 and will be held on Saturday mornings. Anyone who can help should email melissa@eliteschoolofswimming.co.uk.

Picture Credits: Urban Saints Twitter