News

Participating in and raising funds to support certain charities and good causes in the community fits in with our corporate ethos and business – promoting a healthy leisure and lifestyle.

Pool & Spa Industry
- A hat trick at the SPATA Awards on 7th February 2010
  Some of our latest pools were again awarded major titles at the annual UK pool design awards in Brighton. One project even received two different awards, including Silver in the new and much coveted Innovation category. Please see the Awards section for more information and the Portfolio for pictures.
- MP Justine Greening makes a splash at the opening of our latest school pool at Granard, Putney
  The official opening ceremony of our latest school pool project in Putney at the end of March was made extra special when Justine Greening, MP for Putney, Southfields and Roehampton donned her costume and took the first plunge together with Glynis Cobb, Head Teacher and John Marston, Chairman of the Board of Governors and a dozen of Granard's pupils. Photo courtesy of M.Ousellam.
- SPATA Pool Contractor of the Year 2009 - We scooped 6 design titles at the "Pool Oscars"
  We were delighted to be be awarded the coveted title of Pool Contractor of the Year for the third time at the SPATA design awards ceremony in Brighton in February. One of our pools also scored a remarkble double by being awarded Best Domestic Refurbishment Project 2009 further to being awarded a Gold Award in 1992 when we first built it.
- Our director, Jamie Smith appointed to Chairman, SPATA South-East region
  At the AGM in September, the Swimming Pool & Allied Trades Association appointed Jamie Smith, one of our directors, to its Chairman for the South-East region. The association comprises of all reputable companies involved in the wet leisure industry in the UK. Jamie looks forward to heading up the organisation's valuable work which includes continuing to ensure that standards in the business are being met and raised.
- London Swimming Pool Company becomes part of National Leisure - October 2008
  We are pleased to announce that we have joined forces with the wet leisure business syndicate National Leisure providing us with a strong purchasing position in the industry as well as additional benefits such as training and networking between member companies. The group's chairman, Nigel Gray of Grayfox Pools, says about the signing "We are delighted to welcome a business of the calibre of the London Swimming Pool Company that further adds to the blue ribbon reputation enjoyed by National Leisure companies".
- Leisure Industry Week Exhibition - NEC Birmingham 23rd -25th September 2008
  In his position as Chairman of the South-East region of the Swimming Pool & Allied Trades Association (SPATA), one of our directors, Jamie Smith, held a talk at the annual event to demonstrate, on behalf of SPATA members, their capabilities in the educational, medical and rehabilitation sectors. By presenting case studies of large scale pool refurbishment projects at Epsom College, Trinity School, and Rosebery School, as well as new build commissions at the original Canons health club and Parkside Hospital, Jamie illustrated how specialist pool and spa companies are well placed to take on commercial contracts in the wet leisure industry.
Charity support
- We made a "Splash for Cash" - a sponsored 10 km swim in aid of BBC Children in Need on 16th November
  Five of us from London Swimming Pool Company donned our cozzies and Pudsey bandanas and went that extra mile, or in this case, swum 10 km, in around an hour and half in the pool we built at Granard School in Putney to support the invaluable work that Children in Need carries out. We have now raised almost £2000 in kind donations by family and friends, clients and associates. If you wish to join in our Splash for Cash and make a contribution, please access our dedicated Justgiving page on http://www.justgiving.com/London-Swimming-Pool-Company-Ltd. We thank you in advance for helping to change and improve the lives of children across the UK and thank Granard School for kindly accommodating the event.
- Sponsorship at Wimbledon Village Fair raised funds for Wimbledon Guild for Social Welfare
  For the sixth year running, we took the opportunity of combining a lovely day on the Wimbledon Common amongst all the people who visit SW19 for the Tennis Championships with raising funds for the valuable work that the Wimbledon Guild do for the elderly and vulnerable in the community. This year we sponsored the Fun Dog Show together with architects Holden Harper and Stone Lion Veterinary Hospital. We very much enjoyed the company of distinguished clients, both existing and prospective, in our gazebo, not forgetting the light canine entertainment. Handford Wines in South Kensington very kindly donated a Magnum of rose Champagne as a raffle prize which further added to the proceeds for the charity.
- Film and photo shoot with Olympic swimmer Mark Foster in aid of fresh2o with Candice and BBC
  One of our prestigious clients very kindly accommodated for a combined charity and TV shoot to take place at their moving floor swimming pool which we constructed a few years ago. Photographer Candice has devised an incredibly dramatic and impactful series of images using well-known icons with a global presence. The images are set to raise fresh2o awareness and are the face behind a fundraising effort to establish international projects for the provision of clean drinking water and sanitation to the world. Income raised through the fresh2o campaign is channelled into communities through partner organisations, providing expertise in the field of fresh water supply and sanitation. Olympic swimmer and star of "Strictly Come Dancing", Mark Foster took part in the photo shoot with Candice for fresh2o, which was was also filmed by BBC2 for their new series "Super Agents" which will be on air in February 2009. Mark said "It's a pleasure to be involved in a photo shoot for fresh2o, it's such a worthwhile cause. I have always taken water for granted, whether it's turning on a tap for a drink or swimming in a pool, it's very easy to forget that there are so many people who don't have that privilege and they really need our support." If you would like to know more please visit www.candice.co.uk and www.fresh2o.org. The first two images in the picture sequence were masterminded by photograhper Candice.
- Underwater art photography exhibition - Sunday Times "Spectrum" supplement November 2008
  We were delighted to be approached by photographers Sophie Lewis and Emma Critchley to organise for one of our pools to be used as one of the sets for "The Fear of Falling" - a series of timeless, life-size underwater photo portraits that invite new ways to consider the profound experience of submergence. Exploring our changing relationship of the present moment whilst immersed, the subject moves away from the ethereal and floaty imagery usually associated with water and offers instead a more grounded and weighted sense of being. With a gentle nod towards the Industrial Revolution and making processes surrounding the period, the portraits pose the question; could the shifts in consciousness whilst immersed be akin to those experienced centuries ago? Portraits from the series are currently on exhibition at Fulham Palace Gallery, Bishops Avenue, London SW6, as part of this year's Terry Neill award. Others will also be on exhibition at the new building for The Photograhers Gallery, Ramilles Street, London W1F from Saturday 6th December. Both exhibitions run until Spring 2009 and are free. For further information you can visit www.thefearoffalling.com.
- Wimbledon Rugby Football Club - Sponsorship
  We are pleased to extend our support for healthy living and leisure in the community by donating funds towards the smart looking new shirts for the Under 13s A team at the WRFC, one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country.
- Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund – The Plymouth to Dakar Driving Challenge
  As part of 200 other daring teams, one of our engineers braved the 4600 miles through Western Sahara to Mali in an old VW Golf worth £100 in January 2008. On arrival, the "bangers", tools and other equipment were auctioned off, fetching ten times what they were bought for with the proceeds given to local charities and Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. London Swimming Pool Company are pleased to have donated £2,500 in sponsorship towards this commendable venture which will benefit people in a part of the world where they have to walk miles to fetch a bucket of clean drinking water. If you also wish to contribute to this worthy cause please contact us at the office.
- Glyn School Rugby Team - Sponsorship
  The Under 13s needed new design shorts for their tour in Italy in February '08 and we hope that our joint sponsorship contributed to the victorious result.
- Wimbledon Guild - The Village Fair
  Making a splash together with the Wimbledon Esporta aquarobics team has become an annual fund raiser in June in aid of the social welfare work that The Guild carry out in the Wimbledon area.
- Cancer Research UK – Race for Life
  The ladies at London Swimming Pool Company donned their customised T-shirts to raise funds and race in Richmond Park in May 2007 in aid of pioneering lifesaving research for the charity.
- Woking Hospice, Surrey – The Dove Ball
  We donated a luxury hot tub to the traditional Dove Ball's charity auction at Wentworth Golf Club in November 2007 raising £4,600 for the hospice's palliative services in Surrey.
- Chelsea Flower Show - Cancer Research UK
  We were delighted to support the work and profile of this charity by contributing £20,000 in the value of labour and materials when building the pool in the Cancer Research UK Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2006 in association with the TV presenter and garden designer Andy Sturgeon. We were even more pleased when the project was given a Gold award.