The friends of a Gloucestershire primary school with a jewel in its crown - a community swimming pool - are appealing for funds to get it up and running again.

The pool at Leonard Stanley Primary School, near Stroud, provides hours of happiness and entertainment for schoolchildren and local families over the summer months

Now the Friends of Leonard Stanley School (FOLSS), who fund and run the pool, are calling for help to raise funds to get the pool up and running and to put in place some essential upgrades, post COVID.

Generating funds for the improvements alone is a huge task, so FOLSS is hoping to generate some local support with Crowdfunding - the first goal is to raise £14,000 to get the pool open this summer and provide an automatic chemical system to reduce chemical handling.

Following a survey with regular swimmers, the group would also like to put a heating system in place - to help keep swimmers warm when the sun isn't shining!

Time is of the essence as a Crowdfunding campaign is due to end on Monday, May 24.

Annaleise Jones, secretary of FOLSS, said: "To have a local school with a swimming pool accessible to local families is such an amazing thing. It has been out of use since summer 2019 due to the pandemic, and we really want to get it up and running again, as well as making these improvements for future generations of our local residents.

"Without these upgrades the pool may be unable to open, and this would be a massive loss to the school and the community - our local kids are desperate to get back in the water."

Mr Babbage, deputy head and PE leader at Leonard Stanley, said: "This pool means so much to our school family. All schoolchildren get the chance to swim every day during the summer term, and in the holidays local children can come and enjoy the facilities with their families. It really is a treasured resource.

"We just want to say a huge thank you in advance to anyone who helps, in whatever way they can. As a small group of school fundraisers, this is a mammoth task - but we believe with the help of the local community we can absolutely achieve it."

If you would like to support this project, go to the FOLSS swimming pool crowdfunding page, where you can watch their video and find out what your donation can help achieve: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/folss-outdoor-pool-reopening-and-renovation