Following the recent Customer Forum meeting, and feedback from members over the summer, the Lido has now published the winter pool programme which will commence on Monday 9 October. The good news is that it follows the broadly the same pattern as last year but with the addition of three lunchtime sessions per week, two of which replace the 2-4pm slots on Monday and Tuesday which were the quietest times of the week. It’s hoped the new pattern will enable more people to swim regularly throughout the winter season. The early morning opening on Monday will also continue through the winter, in response to popular demand.
Winter Timetable
Monday 6.30am-2pm & 4pm-8pm
Tuesday 7am-2pm & 4pm-8pm
Wednesday & Thursday closed
Friday 7am-2pm
Weekends 9am-5pm
Swim Doctor Programme
The Swim Doctor programme will continue with three sessions per week through the winter, with the present Wednesday and Thursday morning sessions moving to Fridays from the week of October 9th. Sessions are free for members and £3 for non-members. Booking is advised.
Monday 7-8pm Swim Doctor Technique
Friday 7-8.30am Swim Doctor Fitness (30 minutes land-based + 1 hour in the pool)
Thank you for your continued support to Charlton Lido & Lifestyle Club over the winter period, while some of our facilities were closed. The warmer weather is fast approaching, and following a careful review of the pool usage last spring (and taking into consideration feedback from our previous 2 customer forums), we are pleased to announce the pool opening times to commence from Monday 3rd April.
Monday6.30am-12noon & 2pm-8pm
Tuesday7am-12noon & 2pm-8pm
Wednesday – Friday7am-12noon
Weekends 9am-5pm
These times will be further reviewed in May in preparation for our full summer programme from June 2017.
Friends of Charlton Lido are organising introductory meetings this week at the White Swan pub, on Wednesday 8th February at 7pm and Friday 10th February at 12 noon. Find out more – and let the organisers know if you’re coming along – at the Friends of Charlton Lido website.
Demelza’s Snowflake Swim returns to Charlton Lido on Sunday 29th of January. Last year’s event saw 80 swimmers join in, and raised over £20,000 for Demelza (this writer was one of those swimmers, and enjoyed the event very much!).
More from the organisers:
Brave the outside waters of Charlton Lido in the depths of winter and swim your choice of distance from 100m – 2km.
2016 saw 80 brave swimmers plunge into the water and raise over £20,000 for Demelza – we want 2017 to be even bigger and better!
There is no minimum sponsorship amount for this event BUT we encourage you to try and raise £50 – this could pay for a morning session in our own hydrotherapy pool for our children and their families!
All swimmers receive a hot drink after the swim along with an exclusive Demelza swimming cap and medal to celebrate your achievement.
Spectators are welcome to come along free of charge to cheer you on – the more the merrier! Refreshments will be available from the café.
Prize for the top fundraiser will be awarded after the event, spot prizes will be awarded on the day for Best Fancy Dress.
** First 50 swimmers receive EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT (Adult £10, Child £5)** Standard prices apply until midnight on Thursday 26 January (Adult £12.50, Child £7.50)
On Day Registration – Adult £15, Child £10
Children are welcome to participate but must be able to swim a minimum of 100m. Young or weak swimmers may be tested prior to the event by our lifeguards.
PS. Charlton Lido’s pool is currently open for general swimming on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday (the latter mornings only). Check the pool timetable here.
“Back in the autumn of 2013, a group of committed Lido swimmers held an initial meeting to discuss setting up a user group under the banner Friends of Charlton Lido; lots more expressed an interest but weren’t able to attend the meeting.
“The consensus, both of those who attended the meeting and of those responding via the Charlton Champion website, was that a group would be beneficial. However, at that time there weren’t enough people able to commit to getting it off the ground, and there was a hope that the full reopening of the Lido with the new gym and café would increase usage and address many of the concerns that were being expressed at the time.
“Three years on it is clear that many of the same issues still continue to surface on a regular basis, so perhaps the time is now right to return to the proposal of establishing a Friends group to try to find a constructive way of tackling these. Informal conversations in the pool and the changing rooms suggest that lots of regulars would support the idea – so let’s try and make it happen!”
To find out more or to get involved, visit friendsofcharltonlido.co.uk or email charlton.friends.lido [at] gmail.com.
Friday morning sessions have now been reinstated until the end of October. The pool will be open 7am-12 noon.
***UPDATE 28th SEPTEMBER 2016***
A note has appeared on Charlton Lido’s website announcing changes to the new winter pool opening hours: the pool will now open on Tuesdays and close on Fridays.
Presumably they’ll be emailing members with the update at some point….Many thanks to the commenters on this post for alerting us to the change. We’ve also been told that there will be a customer forum held on October 18th; email invites are due to be sent on the 3rd of October.
Charlton lido swimmers’ hopes that a late summer heatwave would lead to extended winter opening hours have been dashed, with news that the pool will be completely closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until March.
We hope you have enjoyed the summer and are planning to swim into the winter months. Unfortunately the colder months will be soon upon us. With this in mind we would like to introduce you to our winter programme which will operate from the 1st of October 2016 through until March 2017.
Monday 7am-12noon & 2pm-8pm
Tuesday – Thursday Closed
Friday 7am-12noon & 2pm-8pm
Weekends 9am-5pm
The programme has been carefully thought out taking into consideration last years trends in usage, customer feedback and facility feasibility.
If you are an annual or monthly member here at Charlton Lido & Lifestyle Club you will shortly recieve[sic] an email to confirm the programme changes. This email will also outline alternative options available to our members over the winter months.
It’s unclear why – after a presumably busier-than-usual summer, thanks to the good weather – it’s necessary to cut opening to this extent; GLL have held fewer customer forums this year than previously, and emails to members remain infrequent. Hopefully the email to members mentioned above will shed some more light.
In the meantime, enjoy midweek swimming while you can! Current pool hours are:
As an aside, we’d suggest that if Better are now describing the lido as ‘Charlton’s best kept secret’ it might be time for them to do a bit of proper advertising and promotion…
PS. Tried the cafe since it reopened? Tell us what you thought of it in the comments below.
The Charlton Champion 