Fanshawe Pool & Gym – Letter to parents 25.10.2025

Dear parents, students and carers

I regret to inform you that Fanshawe Pool and Gym will close at the end of this term. This is due to a withdrawal of funding from central government. The school own the site and facilities but we receive a significant annual grant to subsidise the running of the pool from the Department for Education (DfE). 

We currently work in partnership with East Herts District Council, which contracts Everyone Active to manage and oversee the day-to-day operations. The pool and gym do not generate enough revenue to cover associated operating and ongoing maintenance costs, and we have only been able to keep the facility open because of the additional annual grant from the DfE.

Since we became aware that the withdrawal of funding from the DfE was a possibility, we have been working with East Herts District Council, Hertfordshire County Council and through our sitting Member of Parliament. All parties have been working proactively to consider possible options and solutions to keep the facility open.

This has included options at local, county and national government levels through both education and leisure departments. I would like to thank colleagues locally who have supported this process through meetings, lobbying relevant departments and discussing any options with us. We have been in contact with Josh Dean, our local MP, and he is raising this issue in parliament as well as discussing the case with the Department for Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 

If there is a change of position from central government we will review the decision to

close, but as things currently stand the loss of this significant grant is forcing our position and the need to share the current situation with the local community.

We are very aware that the pool is a community asset. It is used by local primary schools and various members of the community to teach people to swim and as a leisure and fitness facility. However, as a school, we are funded directly by central government to provide education for our students. We are not allowed to use this funding to subsidise a facility for the wider local community. As we have researched the costs of maintaining or decommissioning the pool it has become clear that we need to close the pool in the immediate future to minimise the impact on our finances, and our core purpose of educating our students.

Users of the pool and gym will be contacted directly by Everyone Active with details relating to alternative arrangements for existing users. East Herts District Council can also be contacted regarding alternative provision. The local plan is that the facilities at Hartham are the most obvious alternative option for swimming facilities.

I know that this decision will be greeted with sadness in our local community and the closure will

affect all users. The benefits of the pool are obvious, and we are disappointed that we find ourselves in this position. It is a decision we are forced to make given the withdrawal of the annual grant from the DfE.

Yours faithfully,

Steve Walton (Headteacher)