Meath LSP, Meath County Council and Swim Ireland partnered on the Pop-Up Pool initiative to bring the 12m long Pop-Up Swimming Pool to Oldcastle from March until August of this year.
Swim Ireland want to improve the opportunity and experience for all swimmers, and so, supported by Sport Ireland, an opportunity to address the lack of swimming opportunities in counties was presented to Meath LSP. With support from Meath County Council and Sport Ireland, Meath LSP worked with the community of Oldcastle in North Meath to prepare the fairground site for the installation of the pop-up pool.
Oldcastle was chosen as an ideal location for the pool because there isn`t a pool facility in the town and there is a large cohort of the population of the town who don`t have regular access to a swimming pool. The smaller and more intimate settings of the pop-up pool wasn`t as intimidating as larger pools can be and proved to be very popular for those learning to swim (particularly adults and those with sensory and mobility issues).
Our most regular users came from older adults, people with a disability, children & young people, women and girls and those from an ethnic minority background. Programmes offered included:
The success of the pop-up pool would not have been possible without the support of Meath County Council the Kells MD, Oldcastle Co-Op, Swim Ireland and the local communities. This collaborative approach saw 30 different swim programmes delivered over 5 months to 4,058 users.
