Thanks to a community fundraising campaign, Streatham Common Co-Operative (SCCoop) successfully got the iconic Paddling Pool reopened for the school holidays early in August.
Generations of community
Streatham Common’s Paddling Pool has been a much-loved free community resource for generations. Since SCCoop took over the management of the pool from the council it has been funded mostly by the public. This year, when the local parents’ Facebook page reported that the pool couldn’t open – so many were prepared to donate, SCCoop couldn’t overlook the interest.
Meeting the target
Crowdfund Lambeth pledged £5,000 to exactly match the community donations and meet the original target. This is not the first time the Council has matched public funding for the Pool, and SCCoop and the Friends of Streatham Common are extremely grateful to everyone that donated.
SCCoop and their excellent volunteers have managed to make some repairs to make it safe for this season. A lot of the repair work was done by the Community Payback team. SCCoop aim to repair or replace the pump to make it more sustainable in the future.
Memories
One campaign supporter wrote: “Positive benefits to young people and families are huge. The pool is one of the most incredible local activities and will hold special childhood memories for many generations – if we can keep it.”
The crowdfund appeal therefore reached out not just to current users, but to parents and grandparents with happy memories of taking little children to the pool (or being taken there when younger) who don’t want to see this lovely community amenity close – especially in a cost of living crisis.
More information
- This crowdfunder is now closed, after beating its target, with hopefully enough money left over to help prepare for next year. SCCoop expect to need to crowdfund again for next summer’s opening.
- Paddling Pool Current opening times are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday:10am-6pm; Sunday and Thursday 12-6pm (late opening due to cleaning)
- See more about Crowdfund Lambeth, the Council’s platform to support community projects making our borough a unique place to live, work, learn and do business. The project must demonstrate strong local support shown through a vibrant crowdfunding campaign. To be considered for match-funding from Lambeth Council, the project must also meet some simple criteria and contribute to the ambitions of Lambeth 2030, our Borough plan for the next seven years
