Save Cricklade Leisure Centre

There are so many reasons why the Leisure Centre in Cricklade should remain open... Here are some.

1. The swimming pool in Cricklade is invaluable as a means of exercise but also to enable children to develop a critical life-skill. Did you know that 700 children currently have swimming lessons in Cricklade? Five schools currently hold their lessons there - St Sampsons and four other swindon schools. Over 430 children currently have their lessons at the pool; 112 from Cricklade, 96 from Swindon, 162 from the villages around Cricklade and 63 from Cirencester. Where are they all going to go?

2. Cricklade Youth Football Club is a club which the whole community should be proud of. It runs teams from Under-8s right up to Under-16's. The number of boys and girls participating is over 120. The club was the first club in Wiltshire to gain the Wiltshire FA Charter Standard - an award for clubs across the country that meet the very high standards required by the FA. This year, the club has also been awarded the Charter Standard Club of the Year - a real achievement! If the Leisure Centre closes, these teams will have no facilities and it is almost certain the club will close. This will be a disaster that I know will break the hearts of every single member of the club. Of course, the same applies to all those other clubs who are based at the Centre such as the Tennis Club, the Squash Club and the list goes on... This can't be allowed to happen.

3. It is forecast that by 2010, 22% of girls and 19% of boys between the ages of two and 15 will be chronically obese. The Government is fully aware of this and has launched an initiative through the schools to make our children fitter and healthier. The Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the campaign by pledging to make lifestyle changes such as using the stairs instead of the lift, visiting the gym more often and boosting his intake of fruit and vegetables. What is the point of such a campaign if the very facilities needed are being removed??