Uptake for under 16s swimming in Wrexham almost doubles in a year

The uptake in free swimming sessions for under 16s in Wrexham has almost doubled in the past 12 months.

Earlier this year Wrexham Council promoted the sessions to children, parents, guardians and schools – along with removing the £5 charge for junior swim cards – to encourage more to take part in the free scheme.

As a result 364 cards were issued between January and March this year, which is up on the 184 from the same period in 2018.

Along with changes and improvements to our leisure and activity centres, work is continuing to make sure as many people as possible make use of all of Wrexham’s pools.

Cllr Andrew Atkinson, lead member for youth services and anti-poverty, with responsibility for Leisure, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve seen a significant increase in the uptake of free swimming in Wrexham for under 16s as a result of increased publicity, and the removal of the £5 card charge.

“I really hope that the removal of card charges for the over 60s will see similar results and encourage more people to get active and get into the pool.

“Since becoming lead member for this area, I’ve been keen to see the charge for the cards removed from both a leisure and anti-poverty perspective and I can’t thank Freedom Leisure enough for their work in doing this, along with our team of hard-working council officers.

“Freedom Leisure is a fantastic organisation to work with, and we all hope for an even greater increase in the number of swimmers across the County Borough.

“I know the team will be happy to speak to anyone regarding the changes to the card charges, and am very pleased these changes are now in place.

“I look forward to working regularly with Freedom Leisure and Council officers to constantly bring about further changes and improvements.”