A crowdfunder page for Ships and Castles leisure centre has been started to protect the Pendennis headlands for the communities of Falmouth and Penryn.

After Cornwall Council closed the pool back in April they faced huge opposition from the passionate community in Falmouth, the council has now agreed to devolve it to Falmouth Town Council meaning that money will have to be found to keep the Leisure centre open.

Pendennis Leisure Community Interest Company was formed by residents of Falmouth, Penryn, and surrounding villages to operate and enhance leisure services at Ships & Castles and to save the only public swimming pool in the area.

An empty Ships and Castles swimming pool - credit - Pendennis Leisure.

Falmouth Town Council now wants the Pendennis Leisure group to take Ships and Castles on. Gemma Adams a swimming coach, instructor and mum helped set up the group and is hopeful they can make a real difference if provided the right assistance: "We have been working with Falmouth Town Council to develop plans to reopen Ships & Castles, and of course, a lot comes back to money which is why we are running a crowdfunder – to tap into the amazing support we have had from the community over the last few months and build a pot of cash to power us through to the next stage."

"We have made applications to some of the big funds designed to support what we are trying to do and will be applying for plenty more. Our chances of success improve dramatically if we can show solid community backing. Right now, we need funding to pay technicians and consultants, to get our web and communications working effectively, and to get young people safely involved in our campaign and project planning," Gemma added.

Gemma also explained how some support has already been provided: "Power to Change has agreed to match fund us, so if we can raise £5000 from the community, Power to Change will give us another £5000. So please chip in what you can – every pound you give is actually two thanks to Power to Change!"

On the crowdfunder page, the group shared an important message from an unnamed local head teacher: "Already 90% of local 8-year-olds cannot even tread water for 30 seconds - let alone swim. This is because through covid swimming lessons stopped and now Cornwall Council has closed our only public pool. We are a coastal town surrounded by water - Cornwall has the highest numbers of drownings per mile of coastline in the country."

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