As the crunch meeting on the future of the Pendennis Headland draws near, campaigners have been sharing the experiences of organisations who used to use the pool.
Community interest company Pendennis Leisure, which wants to reopen and run the now closed Ships and Castles leisure centre, says it has been hearing from organisations affected by the closure including Gyllyngvase Surf Life Saving Club and Fal Care.
The future of Ships and Castles will be decided on Wednesday
Gylly SLSC is a volunteer led club with 250 members. Its aim is to build confidence and lifesaving skills for its 250+ members.
Currently 70% of new RNLI lifeguards on beaches from The Lizard to Falmouth are from Gylly SLSC
Writing about the impact on the club in a letter to Pendennis Leisure, the club says the closure is already effecting how it operates.
It say its Nippers do not have sufficient pool time to gain the confidence to transition to sea based training and consequently they are seeing a higher number of Nippers drop out.
The future of Ships and Castles will be decided on Wednesday
“The consequences for our community will be ongoing and complex," says the club. "In the short term, fewer children will have the skills and confidence to benefit from our programmes, and safely enjoy our beautiful coastline.
"In the long term, there will be a reduction in the number of lifeguards on our beaches, both paid for professional and off-duty volunteers."
It says without access to a local public pool, the youngest and most vulnerable members of the community are at the most disadvantaged and put at increased risk.
The future of Ships and Castles will be decided on Wednesday
Meanwhile FalCare, a not-for-profit local organisation which provides personal care and assisted-living support for people with mental health difficulties, dementia and physical and learning disabilities to help them live as happily and as independently as possible, says its clents and staff are suffering because of the closure.
"People are sad and suffering physically from the lack of exercise they gained in the pool as walking is not an alternative due to mobility issues," they said in a letter.
They say swimming was a good way for those in supported living of keeping healthy and safe from obesity, but closing Ships and Castles had denied these people that option.
They say people in the their day service who use the pool once a week no longer go.
"53 clients and 52 members of staff are effected in some way by the closure of Ships and Castles," they said.
Gemma Lawley, a swimming instructor and part of the Pendennis Leisure campaign said these are both stark reminders of why the local Cornwall Council did the wrong thing in closing the centre and that it must reopen. "They highlight the short term effects on real people and long-term ramifications that we face the longer it is closed.
"In the surf lifesaving club letter it states 70% of the lifeguards that serve Falmouth to The Lizard come from our local club alone! Interested to know where our future lifeguards are going to come from when we have no public pool for children to learn and train in?"
The meeting of Cornwall Council's cabinet to decide the future of the Ships and Castles site and the headland takes place on Wednesday, July 20 at 10am. It is item 11 on the agenda. Protestors are being asked to arrive at New County Hall, Truro at 8am to make their feelings known to arriving councillors.
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