In November 2022 the pool was leased as an Asset Transfer to Brynaman Lido Limited, the registered organisation of Brynaman Lido Committee. We hold a 30-year lease on the pool and surrounding property with Carmarthenshire County Council. They are the registered owners. It was put in trust to the local authority (then Llandeilo Rural District Council) in 1972. We have several of the original documents, dating back to 1935 if people would like to see them.
In many different ways. To fund the refurbishment we will be raising money from a wide range of funders including:
Lido Brynaman Limited Share Offer – as a Charitable Community Benefit Society we can issue shares so that local people can have a stake in their pool.
Plus a lot of smaller charities and regular fundraising initiatives. We have a donations page on our website.
We are a Charitable Community Benefit Society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and HMRC. Our accounts are submitted each year in September after our AGM and published in their Mutuals Register.
Current plans are for a lido / open air swimming pool and don’t include a roof, although there have been enquiries about the possibility of a retractable roof. This is something that can be explored in the future if it’s possible and affordable.
Car parking is a problem for everyone in the area and we hope to talk to other local organisations to try to come up with an answer. For the lido, we are particularly interested in Active Travel, including cycling and electric bikes, which are now very popular and will form part of our planning. We are in conversation with Sustrans and the Rugby Club to help make this happen.
When the pool is opened the main source of income will be ticket sales. We aim for it to be affordable to local people and may do extra fundraising to subsidise that.
As well as swimming there will be additional activities to generate income such as pool parties, canoeing clubs, training sessions and special events such as triathlons.
We know that open air swimming is very popular and that Lido Ponty for instance has exceeded all of its ticket income targets.
We hope to employ a pool manager and lifeguards. Apart from that it is proposed that the pool will be run by volunteers like it was in the past. We will also provide lots of training opportunities.
We set up our organisation as Brynaman Lido Limited. We needed to differentiate ourselves from its previous name, BSPA (Brynaman Swimming Pool Association) for business and fundraising purposes. The name is not sacrosanct. It is useful for fundraising and for informing the wider community as the word lido is recognisable. Of course it will always be Brynaman Baths / Baths Brynaman to local people. We try to include that where possible. When it finally opens there may be an opportunity for local people to choose its name.
Will it ever be secure? In its history people have always climbed in when it’s been closed and they still do. We have heard many stories about that. We’ll make it as safe and secure as we can. Maybe we’ll organise the midnight swims ourselves.
Very difficult to say. This will depend on how quickly we can complete the plans, raise the funding and get the work done. We’ve been through a recession, a pandemic, a financial crisis and an energy crisis. All of these things have an impact on time and costs. What we can say is that we will seek to invest in renewable energy and sustainable management systems early on to save running costs in the future. In the current climate our estimate is 3 to 4 years.
The pool is in a very poor state and needs a complete refurbishment. Our next step is to test its structural strength and explore the best ways to repair it, using the best technical solutions for lining, sourcing water, filtration and heating. We are applying for further funding to pay for that.
No. We might have a portacabin or mobile coffee and toilet stop on the ground near the cycle path to start with whilst other work and fundraising takes place. It will be a service to cyclists and walkers and likely only at weekends or in holiday time. We will work with the Rugby Club and other organisations to make sure that we compliment what they do. Eventually there will be a café on site but the main investment and the priority for us will be in the pool and making sure that it is accessible, safe and sustainable.
We will have to work in phases because of the way that funding works. The funding for the pool and more expensive elements may take longer to get, so we will have to respond to what is available to us.
We hope to heat the pool in the summer months, likely from May to September. This is common practice across many lidos and open water pools across the UK. We’re looking to heat it with air source, solar and other renewable energy sources. The technology for this is developing all the time. This will be one of our next pieces of research.
You can email us at brynamanlido@gmail.com
