'Kids want to give up swimming': Community's fight for future of Whitehill Pool in Glasgow

Teachers, parents and campaigners are fighting to save a swimming pool which closed in 2023 facing millions in repair costs.

Whitehill Swimming Pool was forced to shut down for the second time since the pandemic after Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), a dangerous lightweight material, was discovered in its roof two years ago.

The neighbouring Whitehill Secondary School, where RAAC was discovered in the roof in 2021, was repaired while the pool remained empty.

The community’s swimming club has faced several relocations and a dwindling membership while the pool’s windows remain boarded up.

On Thursday nights, Whitehill Swimming Club is in full swing – but despite running for over 40 years, it has been plunged into a crisis by the consistent closure.

Chairperson Craig Cunningham told STV News: “We feel like a club without a home. This pool is only one metre deep at both ends. We can’t do any diving there.

“There are kids in the pool just now thinking of giving swimming up because they’re not happy about the situation we’ve got here, but we physically can’t do anything else.”

Whitehill Chair Craig Cunningham STV News

The club’s original pool in Dennistoun was already shut due to the pandemic. It briefly reopened – but when RAAC was found in the roof in 2023, the shutters came down again.

The club have now been relocated five miles away to Easterhouse – a pool with less space and fewer hours
As a result, their membership has been cut in half.

Local mum Linda Thompson said: “It’s been really challenging for the club, [and] really challenging for parents as well. We want to do our best and make sure our kids [are] learning life skills.

“With the closure of our local pool, it’s so much more difficult.”

Children at the pool say the situation is putting people off coming to swim.

“For younger kids doing lessons, and older people just trying to get some exercise… if you want to meet up with friends for a swim, it’s a lot harder, as you need to travel further.”

The swimming club has been relocated to different venues since the pool's closure — The swimming club has been relocated to different venues since the pool’s closure STV News

“I don’t know where we’re going to go next,” one boy said. “The council keeps moving us. One week this pool, then next month another pool.”

“Normally it’s five minutes away; now you have to get a bus, there are probably less people coming,” another girl added.

Whitehill Pool already needed £18m to bring it up to standard before RAAC was found – but now fully replacing the roof will cost almost £6m more.

Bill Stark has been leading the campaign to save Whitehill.

“If the essential maintenance was carried out in a timely manner, we may not have been standing here today with this problem. That’s the frustration.

“At what point does Glasgow address these ageing pools?”

Glasgow Life, who own the pool, say they’ll present the council with a list of options on Monday.

When council bodies meet to discuss options, the campaigners aim to demonstrate by marching from the pool to the City Chambers.

Campaign to save Whitehill Swimming Pool STV News

The options could include building a new pool from scratch, a complete retrofit of the current building or expanding the next door high school with a leisure campus.

But it will all depend on budget decisions in February.

In the meantime, Whitehill will be the only council-run pool with its doors shut when the Glasgow plays host to the Commonwealth Games.

To honour the campaign, the club received the ‘Triumph over Adversity’ prize at the Club Sport Glasgow Annual Awards last week.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said: “We’re continuing to work with the Save Whitehill Pool Group to develop a robust business case for the future of Whitehill Pool. A detailed options appraisal is currently being prepared for Glasgow City Council’s Capital Planning Board and will be considered when the Board meets in November.

“This will incorporate recent community consultation and ensure all three options under review – a new build, a deep refurbishment of the existing facility, or doing nothing – are fully assessed.

“Our priority is to provide Glasgow City Council with a comprehensive strategic and financial analysis of each option’s benefits and disadvantages, and it will be the council that makes the decision regarding the allocation of capital funding for any future iteration of Whitehill Pool.”