Despite the issues with Covid19 we haven’t lost sight of our determination to implement the strategy we consulted upon earlier this year. We’re excited to announce that we’ve ratified our ten year strategy document and will be publishing this soon in its final form. One area we committed to was improving our digital presence and we’re pleased to launch an improved website that has been developed by one of our volunteers https://shoalstonepool.com. 

The strategy work has been allocated across the Directors of Shoalstone Pool Community Interest Company  who are beavering away on detailed plans to secure the pool’s future. This includes an exciting initiative to improve access for disabled people to the pool and surrounding area. We’ve been working with Torbay Council experts and plan to make improvements once we have navigated the Covid crisis (likely to be late 2020). Specifically, this includes better signage for guiding disabled people to the pool area and handrails to help them down sloped areas. 

Another key area that has been addressed is the recruitment of a full-time operations manager. Our Directors are constantly pulled in many directions from managing the day-to-day operations to seeking grants and donations. We want to focus our management team on the future development of the pool and need to relieve them of the burden of operational management. The only way to do this is to recruit a permanent staff member to oversee and run the pool. This needs commitment in terms of funding and longevity. We need the position to be funded for at least 3 years. Therefore, we’ve set ourselves an ambitious target of £150,000 to cover this position over that time period. A job specification has been developed and we’re pulling together a series of strands to seek funding.  This will be a significant milestone for the pool and will amplify the attention we can give to its maintenance and onward development.

We’ve pushed ahead with our plans to install a webcam and this should be live in July opening up the pool to “virtual visitors” wherever they are in the world. As soon as it is ready we’ll add a link from our website.  We’re also progressing a number of pressing infrastructure issues that need attention. We commissioned a local contractor to plug and secure  a small breach that had opened under one of the sea walls. Our caretaker is working hard to repair holes in the decking area and then replace railings that were damaged in recent storms.