swimming

Charlton Lido: summer swimming season starts soon

Neil Clasper


Good news for swimmers: Charlton Lido’s summer season starts on Tuesday 31st of May, with extended opening hours for the pool.

The new timetable will be:

Monday: 6.30am-8pm

Tuesday – Friday: 7am-8pm

Weekends: 9am-5pm

The main changes from the current timetable are an earlier start on Mondays, and all-day opening on Thursdays and Fridays. This timetable will run to September when it will be ‘reviewed’.

The cafe (closed for refurbishment since October last year) is due to re-open next Tuesday, and will be open 9-5pm through the week. We assume this also means that the sun terraces will re-open.

Finally, there’s a Customer Forum for members taking place this Thursday evening (May 26th). We’ve heard of members who’ve not received the email that was sent out last week and – as with other events at the lido – there’s been no mention of it on Better’s website. It may be too later to register, but if you’re a member and want to apply (or get on the list for future customer meetings) we suggest dropping a line to charltonlido [@] gll.org.

 

‘Snowflake Swim’ for Demelza at Charlton Lido

Neil Clasper

Charlton Lido hosts a charity ‘Snowflake Swim’ swim for Demelza Hospice Care for Children on Sunday 31st January, from 2pm. Maybe you’ve been inspired to give the lido a try by the new Land Rover advert, or you’re a regular who wants to raise some money from your weekend swim for a local charity – you can sign up online here. Good luck to all who take part!

Charlton Lido latest: customer forum, survey, Halloween swimming, and Twitter

Neil Clasper1 Comment

Charlton Lido

Some quick Charlton Lido updates:

Customer Forum and Members’ Survey

The lido’s first customer forum event saw 20+ members gathered to meet management and staff from the centre. You can read their write up here. One of the main themes that emerged (that’s rather downplayed in the write-up) is the lack of communication from the lido to members: a show of hands suggested that only two of the attendees had received an email from GLL this year. Clearly this isn’t helping engagement and visitor numbers.

GLL have advised that members who want to receive emails should contact the lido reception to ensure that they’re set up correctly on their system. If you’re a member, you should have received a customer survey by email earlier this month – if you’ve not, contact the lido. The next customer forum is to be scheduled before the end of this year (possibly because they’ll want to break the news of further reductions in pool opening hours); disappointingly they want to limit attendance to 15 members maximum.

Halloween

There will be a Halloween-themed late swimming event on October 31st – hopefully the first of many regular themed events mooted at the Customer Forum.

Twitter

We’ve wondered for a while why Charlton Lido doesn’t have its own Twitter feed, but learned this week that individual Better centres “aren’t allowed” their own Twitter feeds (rather surprising for any business in 2014, we think, never mind one that’s trying to attract new members…).

It seems, though, that some enterprising soul has started an unofficial feed. Given recent criticisms of the Lido’s communications, it’s tempting to think that anything must be an improvement on the way things have been done since it reopened. You can follow them here: https://twitter.com/charltonlido/. Let’s hope that GLL see sense and start an official feed soon.

Charlton Lido reopens this week…but in what state?

Neil Clasper21 Comments
Charlton Lido, 14 March 2012
The old lido entrance has been demolished

Good news for local swimmers as Charlton Lido is set to reopen on Thursday this week. While the local press reports suggested that it would be reopening “after a £2m refurbishment“, recent photos suggest “will reopen while building works go on around it through the summer” might be a more accurate summary.

The plans are available to view online now but, in short, the developments will mean the introduction of:

  • indoor changing rooms
  • gym facilities
  • a cafe.

While some regulars will look back fondly on the basic facilities provided previously, anyone familiar with London Fields Lido will know that the addition of the cafe should prove very popular, providing somewhere to socialise and warm up or cool down after a swim. (In the current weather conditions anyone enterprising enough to turn up with a supply of hot chocolate this weekend could prove very popular).

What price a swim in SE7?
Pool users will be pleased to see that prices seem to have been held since last year, but would be justified in wondering why, at £6 for a pay-on-the-door adult swim, they pay a third more than swimmers at London Fields Lido, an identically-sized pool run by the same operator. A Twitter conversation with GLL earlier revealed not a great deal more than ‘prices vary from borough’ because of differing arrangements with ‘local partners’, ‘the majority of whom are local authorities’. This is presumably a reflection of the amount of subsidy that councils provide to the operator, but we’d greatly appreciate any insight into how this arrangement works in the comments box below (particularly if you’re a local councillor!). It’s also interesting to note that when I visited London Fields Lido on a chilly January morning, it was busier than I’ve seen Charlton Lido, save for the very brief heatwave in August last year.

Overall, though, it’s great to see the return of one of London’s few heated outdoor pools; if you go this weekend, tell us what it was like (and remember to wrap up warm when you get out of the pool).