Pricing
The option of booking the pool at this rock-bottom price (of £30) last year turned out to be very popular. We set the price this low to ensure that local people who would normally have paid on the gate weren't 'priced out of the market’ by our normal hire fee of £60 (for an hour). Also, we think at this time of difficulty with Covid, a safe swim at a great price is a little ray of sunshine!
Bookers and please don't swap
One constraint we insist on is that the booker turns up on the slot they’ve booked and doesn’t do informal swaps with others in a ‘grey market’ -- please cancel instead. And if you do need to cancel... can you please give us at least a couple days notice to readvertise the slot so that if/when it is taken we can refund your fee?
Please note, the person who books the pool is required to attend with the group
Multiple bookings
Also, we have kept the price as low as we can so that as few people as possible (who might normally turn up and swim) are put off by the price. In return it would be great if people avoid doing multiple bookings when the slots come available -- to make sure everyone gets a go.
Priority for Local taxpayers
Back in 2010 when we took over operational control from Stroud District Council we held a referendum in Wotton and people voted to slightly raise their own council tax to support the running of the pool. As well as this there is a huge amount of voluntary effort going in locally to help run this community enterprise.
Since the referendum, some other local parish councils also contribute financially to the running of the pool every year, including Tresham, Hillesley and Kingswood villages
We therefore think we owe the folk of Wotton, Tresham, Kingswood and Hillesley a bit of priority and so they will get a short period (15 minutes) when booking opens, to have a chance to bag a slot.
Since the referendum, some other local parish councils also contribute financially to the running of the pool every year, including Tresham, Hillesley and Kingswood villages
We therefore think we owe the folk of Wotton, Tresham, Kingswood and Hillesley a bit of priority and so they will get a short period (15 minutes) when booking opens, to have a chance to bag a slot.
Swimming clubs
Everyone is welcome for a family-type swim (we are less enthusiastic about out-of-town swimming clubs, particularly if it is accompanied by tuition) but we do feel the people who have invested in the facility with their time and council tax should have a better chance to use their own pool…
Coronavirus Symptoms
Please don't attend if you have coronavirus symptoms or a positive test result. Ask us for a refund instead.
Note that Lateral Flow Tests are widely and freely available.
Popular questions
And just to reduce the deluge of questions received via our contact email here are a few things that we can usefully clarify...
- The booking horizon is two weeks from the Saturday release date. But you are now able to book in advance by contacting us using the contact page on this website. There is a news item that gives more details...
- We reckon babies are normally carried around in the pool by an adult so we think that the pair of them constitutes a single receive/deliver coronavirus risk entity. So babies are not counted as individuals in the 10 swimmers.
- Groups often have a few spectators with them to enjoy the trip out and help with child care etc. We are happy to welcome 3 extra people on the pool side with up to 10 in the water. We have judged that to go much beyond this raises the transmission risk for our supervising staff.
If you want to book further in advance and have more people...
...then we now offer slots at £50 for up to 30 people. Use the contact page to make arrangements. And the conditions applied to the £30 booking about the booker being present, showering and not attending if anyone has coronavirus symptoms also apply.
We're doing everything we can so that as many people as possible can swim safely at Wotton Pool.