We recently awarded a grant to Macclesfield Seals Disabled Swimming Club. They reported that our grant was very timely, coming as it did after a prolonged period of closure due to the Covid pandemic. As such, their usual fundraising activities were severely curtailed and they were just beginning to build up their numbers to pre-covid levels. They wanted to purchase new equipment, some of which had badly deteriorated during the closure, to the point they could no longer use it.
They hold weekly meetings at Macclesfield Leisure Centre pool and bought swim belts, floats, balls, weighted diving sticks and rings with our funding contribution. This really helped to encourage confidence in the water and resulted in everyone having fun playing water polo with the balls and diving in for the weighted sticks and rings. This encouraged them to get used to having their faces in the water and is a good introduction to swimming. Swimming and breathing control bring benefits such as mental uplift, confidence and stamina.
A cheque presentation was organised at Barchester's Prestbury Beaumont Care Home, which is local to the pool, where club members enjoyed meeting the residents. After telling them a bit about the club, the ladies and gentlemen showed great interest and asked some very relevant questions. Some of them could remember the Davenport Street Baths in Macclesfield where Seals first formed in 1957, which the club members found quite impressive.