What are the benefits of joining our Club?

The prime reason for joining is to further develop your water skills, however the benefits to members go far beyond this.

Learning how to compete, to win and to lose, is a lesson for life. As is the development of the mental approach needed for disciplined, structured and at times tough training cycles. This requires commitment, which is an important element in training and in competition. The ability to schedule all these activities with school and social life is a good preparation for management of time in the future. The nature of the physical activity involved provides a focus in life that might be missing or which could be found in less productive areas. You will also become more interested in having a healthy diet.

Meeting people from other localities but who share a common interest and goal both enhances confidence and social skills. Don't be surprised if new friendships develop. And for parents, you will meet others who have children involved in the Club and you too will make friends who have common interests.

Striving to improve performances becomes part of family life. It may sound odd, but it's true. The whole family usually turns out to be interested and supportive of what becomes a common goal All in all, the social benefits of joining the Club are probably as great as the swimming ones.

Membership Costs

The cost of pool hire, coaching staff, administration, cups and medals, Swim England membership and so on are met from the income of the Club. Largely this is derived from squad and membership fees.

The finances of the club are run on a non-profit basis but the club nonetheless has a high turnover. To keep pace with ever increasing costs it is necessary from time to time increase squad fees to make sure that income matches expenditure. In periods when expenditure exceeds income the Club reserves the right to introduce an annual administration charge to balance the books.

Volunteers

The Club could not run without the help of many parents and helpers. We encourage parents to become members of the Club as parents/volunteers. You need to be a member to become a volunteer as the membership provides you with Swim England Insurance while you volunteer. It also means that you are entitled to vote at club's AGM and are able to stand for election to the Management Board.

We very much wish for parents to get involved with timekeeping, traininig to become gala officials, helping at galas off or on poolside or helping at social events. Training is provided for the different roles. For insurance purposes, all volunteers must be members of the Club so that we can organise your Swim England membership.

Data Protection

The Club complies with its obligations under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and how it stores and uses members personal data.  All members of the club agree to the Data Privacy Policy and Data Handling Notice.  These can be found in the Documents section on the website.