Free swimming is being made available at the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre and Stradbroke Pool on Sunday 24 August between 12.00noon – 5.00pm, to celebrate the official handover of the Olympics to London.

This is being organised jointly by Mid Suffolk District Council, who own the facilities and SLM who operate them on the council’s behalf.

Diana Kearsley, portfolio holder for Leisure at Mid Suffolk District Council said: ‘We want to do everything we can to encourage people to exercise more so they can lead healthier lives, and we are happy to support this initiative to encourage people to go swimming, who perhaps would not otherwise do so.’

Anselm Gurney, Contract Manager for SLM, said ‘Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise and we wanted to do something to celebrate the historic handover of Olympic responsibilities to London. The government is planning to introduce free swimming in the lead up to the Olympic Games so we thought it would be a good idea to do it now.’

The government recommends that everyone should be doing 30 minutes of activity, five times a week in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, so why not make swimming one of those?

For further information about the event or the facilities at either site please ring 01449 674980 for the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre and 01379 384376 for Stradbroke Pool.

-ENDS-

Media contact:

Vicky Smy, Senior Communications Officer, tel: 01449 724850, email: Vicky.smy@midsuffolk.gov.uk