Tower Hamlets making swim more accessible for women despite chaotic booking system

Attendees of the Council’s free swimming sessions are 93% women, however overcrowded pools and a messy online booking set-up are keeping the initiative from its full potential.

Around 14,000 Tower Hamlets residents have signed up for free swimming sessions for women and girls aged 16 and above and men aged 55 and over since its launch five months ago. 

The initiative launched in July 2024 includes women-only sessions that aim to reduce health inequalities and make swimming more accessible by making it free of charge.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he wanted women to have their own space and enjoy the benefits of swimming in spaces free from men, as some women can’t go to mixed sessions because of cultural boundaries. 

During a Tower Hamlets health and wellbeing board session earlier this week (December 10), Amélie Gonguet, a public health programme manager, said 93% of people who have signed up are female, while 18% of people are over the age of 55 – with a majority of people being from a Bengali background.

Gonguet then read feedback on behalf of a female resident who has been attending the sessions, who said: ‘It’s been particularly beneficial for my younger cousin who is a university student and for all the family members who cannot afford a gym membership.

‘A great example is my mother-in-law who hasn’t swam since she came to the UK at the age of 16 – hearing about the free swimming especially the women-only sessions have motivated her to stay healthy and improve her physical activity.’

Another woman said the sessions have improved her and her mum’s mental health and have helped them to stay physically fit.

Gonguet told the board that there have been some challenges since the launch, including IT barriers for elderly people when booking online, as well as sessions getting booked up online very quickly because they are released a week in advance. 

She also explained there have been issues with people failing to turn up to bookings and with pools becoming overcrowded or sessions reaching capacity quickly due to pools being shared with other activities.

Gonguet added: ‘In terms of the impact of those challenges, we know this being reflected in our booking versus attendance, we’ve had about 20,000 bookings but only 8,000 [people attending]. So there’s only a 41% attendance, and all of those challenges being experienced by residents are likely to be the reason for the “no show”.’

Gonguet said these issues are currently being looked at by the leisure team and that Be Well, the council’s in-house leisure service and Public Health will be working together with a fully-funded research team at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHC) to help understand the impact of the scheme in more detail. 

Residents can find out more information about the free swimming sessions here.

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