Rushcliffe Swimming Club is calling for members from years gone by to join its Golden Jubilee celebrations.
The club, run entirely by community volunteers, has been teaching young swimmers since 1976 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary on July 4th this year.
Established when Rushcliffe Leisure Centre opened on Boundary Road in the 1970s, the club moved to Rugby Road when the new Rushcliffe Arena opened in 2016.
This year, the 500-member-strong club turns 50, and its committee is organising a Golden Jubilee Community Festival in Wilford to celebrate.
Taking place on Saturday 4th July 2026, the festival will feature live music, an open mic session, bouncy castles, lawn games, face painting, and children’s activities. The club is searching for its alumni to join the family fun day.
Rod Jones, who taught at the club in the 1990s, still volunteers on an occasional Saturday. He said: “Rushcliffe Swimming Club has been at the heart of the community in West Bridgford for five decades. I’ve seen young swimmers come through the club, become adults, start their own families and bring their own children back to the club to learn to swim.”
Tim Dobson, who is hanging up his blue T-Shirt after 10 years of teaching, said: “People give years to the club because we are focussed on creating the most inclusive way possible of nurturing strong, capable and confident swimmers while injecting a lot of fun along the way. The children make friends. The parents and teachers make friends. It’s a happy place to be every Saturday morning. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Club chair, Katie Hillier, said: “The club has a strong community ethos. We are unusual in that we don’t compete against other clubs. This allows us to focus on ensuring our members can use swimming as a foundation for fitness, friendship and confidence.”
The club is inviting former swimmers, teachers and parents from its five-decade-history to come along to the Community Festival in July and join the celebrations.
Tickets on sale now. Individual tickets are £5 or £20 for a family of five. Visit https://forms.gle/
The club runs three sessions a week on Tuesday evenings, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Contact rscmembership@gmail.com to enquire about membership.
