Leisure centre awarded £86k from swimming pool fund

Spectrum Leisure Centre has been awarded £86,000 to improve its energy efficiency

A leisure centre in Surrey has been awarded £86,000 from a government funding pot to help improve its energy efficiency.

Spectrum Leisure Centre in Guildford is among 325 pools in England to access funding from Sport England's Swimming Pool Support Fund  (SPSF) .

The money will be used to install three new pool blankets to keep the pools at the right temperature and reduce overnight use of boilers.

Guildford Borough Council (GBC), which owns the site, said the funding would help it to be more "environmentally and financially sustainable".

Kelvin Mills, head of commercial services at GBC, said: "This is great news for Spectrum, an important leisure resource for our residents, and will help the centre become more environmentally and financially sustainable."

He added that the funds would also allow for the installation of aerators for the showers which would "reduce water use by pumping air into the system."

The cash comes from the second phase of the SPSF which saw a total of £60.5m awarded to pools across England.

The government announced the scheme last year in the face of financial challenges to leisure centres.

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