About our club (our philosophy)
Boldon CA Swimming Club was formed with the objective of making swimming affordable and 'open to all' members of the local community.
We offer a year-round teaching and competitive swimming program (during term time) that offers instruction and training for swimmers of all levels and abilities, aiming to help swimmers to achieve their potential in the sport. We offer a progressive route through the club from non-swimmer all the way through to competitive swimming.
We are a club with ongoing membership. We don't try to sell you blocks of lessons, and swimmers pay each week only for the club night session and any additional sessions that they have attended . Swimmers are moved between sessions when they are ready to move, rather than waiting for an arbitrary date. There are a few yearly costs for being a member of the club (to cover club, Swim England and Community Association memberships). These fees are necessary to make sure that swimmers are insured, but any external charges are at cost price to the swimmers and internal club fees are kept as low as possible.
The club is (and always has been) run by a small dedicated team of completely voluntary staff. They give up an enormous amount of time each week (both at the pool and behind the scenes) to make sure that the club runs as smoothly as possibly and that every single swimmer gets the best teaching and coaching that we can provide.
Our methods
We put swimmers into sessions where they can feel comfortable. We don't try to move swimmers on until the teachers of both sessions (the one that the swimmer is leaving and the one they are moving into) both believe that the swimmer is ready to move. Our sessions are structured around Swim England's Learn to Swim pathway (formerly the National Plan for Teaching Swimming), with each session having a definite goal. Our volunteers are always open to any concerns from our swimmers or parents, and since we are entirely voluntary everything that we do is for the benefit of the club and its swimmers.
Location
We are based at the pool in Boldon School. The address is:
Boldon School Sports Centre
New Road
Boldon Colliery
Tyne and Wear
NE35 9DZ
The entrance to the Sports Centre is just to the right of the large 'Sports Centre' sign in the back corner of the car park, and the pool is inside to the left. On Monday nights we have a desk set up just inside the entrance, at any other session you can find our volunteers on the poolside.
Insurance
The club's current insurance certificate can be viewed here (PDF viewer required, e.g. Adobe Reader).
Any queries regarding the club's insurance should be directed to the club secretary David, either by talking to him at our front desk on Monday nights or using this form.
Data protection statement and privacy policy
The club's data protection statement and privacy policy can be viewed here.