Harrogate Ladies’ College has spent half a million pounds to re-develop its swimming pool for pupils and the local community.
The independent boarding and day school decided to invest in the swimming pool as part of its ‘wellness strategy’.
Principal Sylvia Brett said: “There are so many links between swimming and wellbeing, not simply in terms of the physical benefits, but also around emotional and mental wellbeing.
“A recent YouGov poll for example, found that 1.4 million adults in the UK said that swimming has had a positive effect on their mental wellbeing.
“Together with our new Wellness Centre which opened last year, we’ve invested just short of £1m in facilities designed to support and enhance the wellbeing of our school community. I’m really proud that we are supporting our pupils and staff in this way.”
Over 550 pupils have swimming lessons in the pool each week as part of their timetable at Harrogate Ladies’ College and Highfield Prep School.
In addition, around 1,000 children from the local community receive swimming lessons run by local swim schools, and local sub-aqua and triathlon groups use the pool.
Making better use of sports facilities and opening access to more people is currently high on the national agenda, with the Department for Education recently revealing a £1.6m funding boost to help schools make better use of their facilities.
