LEISURE centres across Northumberland are set to benefit from a £230,000 investment with a new head of swimming at the helm.

The grant for Active Northumberland has come from Sport England to help address the drop-off in adult swimming and increase participation in the sport.

And former swimming development coach at Hexham’s Wentworth Leisure Centre, Mark Seymour, will be key to helping deliver improvements.

Sport England has chosen Northumberland as one of 12 places across the country for a pilot project that aims to encourage more people to use their local swimming pool.

A portion of the cash will go towards improving customer experience for swimmers, additional classes, swimming support and new marketing campaigns to increase awareness of the facilities available.

An important development is Mark’s appointment as head of swimming, which will see him using his experience to work with local communities and existing customers to deliver an improved adult and family swimming offer.

To support its successful funding bid, Active Northumberland carried out surveys and focus groups to obtain feedback around local swimming experiences.

The results showed that, while 75 per cent of residents were aware of the benefits of swimming and wanted to swim more, a much smaller proportion actually ventured into their local pool.

Mark said: “The team will be working hard to make swimming more accessible and appealing and encourage more people to take the plunge and feel the benefits.”

Free ‘come and try it’ weekends, more poolside towel hooks and small storage areas for items such as spectacles, are all among the ideas being explored.

Hexham’s Coun. Cath Homer, cabinet member with responsibility for leisure said: “We want to encourage more people to swim more regularly. The funding will help enormously with this work.”