East Devon MP pledges support for local pools during visit to Axminster's Flamingo Pool

East Devon MP Simon Jupp recently visited the Flamingo Pool to meet with local business Water Babies and pledge his support for the Axminster-based charity which has faced significant financial challenges.

Meeting with Natasha Khojasteh, director of Water Babies, the Conservative MP – who does not represent Axminster but the neighbouring communities of Sidmouth and Exmouth – had the opportunity to discuss the work of the company in training babies and toddlers to swim.

With its headquarters based in Clyst St Mary, Water Babies has become a world leader in providing swimming programmes since it began in 2002.

The East Devon MP was impressed with their global success in addition to their localised operations, which brings parents and carers together from across the community whilst the Flamingo Pool is financially supported through the paid use of its facilities.

During the visit, Mr Jupp also discussed the challenges facing local community pools and his commitment to supporting them.

He said he has directly lobbied central government to help swimming pools prior to the Spring Budget after local pools including Topsham Swimming Pool and the Flamingo Pool in Axminster faced significant financial challenges.

Following this work, the East Devon MP welcomed the announcement of a new £60million fund to support public swimming pools in England for 2023/24 by the Chancellor.

Mr Jupp said: "I'm a big supporter of local swimming pools and lobbied the Chancellor to secure vital financial support for them in the Spring Budget.

"The Flamingo Pool is a great local asset and I've seen first-hand how it brings the people of Axminster together. It was a pleasure to visit and see the wonderful work by Water Babies here in East Devon."

Axminster's Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord visited the Flamingo Pool earlier this year after it opened following emergency repair work and also pledged his support for the facility.

Speaking in March he said: "Local authorities have done a pretty good job on the whole of keeping local authority-owned leisure centres running through Covid and the energy crisis.

"But we have to make sure that initiatives like the Flamingo community pool – which is very much from the grassroots up, created from the hard work, contributions, philanthropy and fundraising of this community for more than a decade and created back in 1998 – that this is continued on for the next quarter of a century.

"Thank you all for your support of this pool and I wish you every success for the next couple of decades and more."