The ‘Thursday Night Swimming Group' has been running for some time now & we have seen a staggering increase in our membership over the years. We run two separate sessions for the children, they are, 18.30 to 19.15 for members who cannot yet swim 25 metres & from 19.15 to 20.00 for those who can swim 25 metres & more. We try & ensure we have a ration of 1 helper to 1 swimmer with ‘watchers' on poolside. However, these sessions are about much more than ‘who can & who cannot' swim 25 metres.

Our members have a wide variety of needs, some attend mainstream schools & others do not; yet when they attend swim club on a Thursday evening they are at liberty to ‘be themselves'. To play, make a noise, splash, laugh, cry, jump off the side of the pool, have races on the floats, be grumpy, explore the filters & waterfalls with their hands or legs, see if something floats, try & get the sinkers off the bottom of the pool, expend all the energy they have, but more importantly to make friends & just have some fun whilst they are learning to swim! This is only possible due to the band of dedicated helpers who come every week & the very supportive parents who travel from far & wide to bring their children swimming. Despite all the play, or perhaps because of it, we have had some swimming success, with our more experienced swimmers taking part in galas and coming away with medals! We have also been fortunate to receive funding from Children in Need, Suffolk ACRE, Stowmarket Town Council & Stowmarket Charities to name a few, this valuable funding has been a big help in keeping these sessions part of swim club.

We have adult members too, one swimmer going on to achieve times to enter the National Disabilities Gala. The adult section swim on a Friday evening 21.00 to 22.00, in training lanes with our senior club swimmers & take part in full training sessions where they can. All members of Stowmarket Swim Club are encouraged to take part in competition and a great way to start is the Club Champs where many of our younger swimmers take part in a ‘fun race' with helpers swimming alongside, this year we would like to see more individual entries too!

If you would like to know more about our Thursday Night Swimming Group, either as a member or helper, please feel free to contact Bobbie Wilson, 01449 674640 or wilson.family@btinternet.com, thank you.