Mum launches pool petition
The mother of a disabled girl who used Balderton Hydrotherapy Pool has vowed to do whatever it takes to get it reopened.
Mrs Lisa Brown (28) of Appletree Close, Newark, regularly took her daughter, Alanna (3) to the pool in the grounds of the former Balderton Hospital.
The pool has been closed by Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, which said it had been plagued by problems in recent years and was no longer cost-effective to maintain.
Mrs Brown has started a petition calling for the pool to be reopened.
She said she was prepared to lead a campaign to save it.
Mrs Brown is still in contact with many parents whose children used the pool at the same time as her daughter.
“Even if it gets to that point where they won’t open, we have already talked about raising funds to buy the pool,” she said.
“I’ll do whatever it takes because it’s not just my daughter who used the pool.
“There are so many other families in Newark and the surrounding areas that are going to be affected by the closure.
“It’s not just a normal leisure centre pool and without it there is nothing at all for children like Alanna.”
Alanna was born 16 weeks premature, weighing 1lb 11oz.
She has cerebral palsy and cannot walk or talk, can eat only baby food and started sitting up at the end of last year.
She spent the first six months of her life in hospital and began using the pool a month after she arrived home.
“She used the pool once a week,” said Mrs Brown.
“Alanna absolutely loved it. Within ten minutes we saw how much she relaxed.
“The difference it was making was unbelievable. The evidence was there straight away. It had an instant effect.”
About a year ago she arrived for a session to find the pool drained of water and was told the operators would contact her when it reopened.
“It was the last I heard from them,” she said.
“There just seems to be one excuse after another. If you have got a problem with something leaking you get it fixed.
“If it re-occurs you get the people to come back and solve the problem.
“The trust is not interested at all in what services it provides.”
Alanna has difficulty moving the right side of her body.
Physiotherapy in the pool helped to relax and strengthen her muscles to make movement much easier.
Mrs Brown now has to take Alanna to the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, for injections every six months to help relax her muscles.
Mrs Brown, who also has a six-month-old daughter, Amy-Lee, said it was upsetting for both her and Alanna, but she would continue with the treatment because she did not want to impair her daughter’s movement.
Mrs Brown and her husband, Mr Kevin Sullivan (25) tried taking Alanna to the children’s swimming pool at The Grove Leisure Centre, Balderton, but the water was not warm enough.
The Newark MP, Mr Patrick Mercer, said he would support any campaign to save the hydrotherapy pool.
“It’s a very important asset to the town,” he said.
Mr Mercer has written to the trust asking it to explain why the pool was closed.
He said he supported Mrs Brown’s idea of raising money to buy and run the pool but felt a significant sum would be required to ensure they did not face the same maintenance problems as the trust.
Mr Matthew Dickinson (56) of Mather Road, Newark, who was paralysed down his left side after a car accident in 1979, said he would support a campaign to reopen the pool.
Before his accident he was a police officer in Manchester. He has use of a hydrotherapy pool at a police convalescent home in Harrogate once a year.
Mr Dickinson said painkillers did not provide the same level of relief as a hydrotherapy pool.
“The trust is not very amenable to the local opinions and needs,” he said.
“It ought to have made it well known that they had this facility, then more people would have used it.”
The pool was previously closed in 2003 but reopened in 2006 after £45,000 was spent repairing leaks and other faults.
The trust’s executive director for local services, Mr Simon Smith, said they had no choice but to close the pool again after continued problems with leakage and structural failure.
A spokesman for the trust said they would be interested in meeting Mrs Brown to discuss her ideas.
