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Rock Ferry's Byrne Avenue Baths needs £10,000 to add heating

The charity running the Grade II-listed former baths has £20,000 from the Asda Foundation and hopes to crowdfund the rest.

Google Maps close-up of the swimming baths in Rockferry.
Byrne Avenue Baths is fundraising for £10,000 to add heating to one of its buildings. Photo: Google Maps.

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The charity that runs the former Byrne Avenue Baths in Rock Ferry is asking for your help to raise £10,000 for new heating in its sports hall.

The Grade II-listed 1930s baths closed to swimmers suddenly in 2009. It is now run as a community centre by the Byrne Avenue Trust, a registered charity.

One of the old pool rooms is now a sports hall, used by Wirral Trampoline Club, Birkenhead Comets Cheerleading and other groups.

The room is cold, and paddling pools have been placed around the floor to catch dripping water from the ceiling, according to the Liverpool Echo.

The trust has secured a £20,000 grant from the Asda Foundation towards an energy-efficient heating system, and hopes to crowdfund the remaining £10,000.

Birkenhead MP Alison McGovern, who learned to swim at the baths, visited and backed the appeal.

She told the Echo: "It's a beautiful space, but it is very old and they need a heating system," "Times are tough, but if people can chip into the crowdfund that would be great."

The site also has a community shop selling items at subsidised prices, which chair of trustees Ben Dalton-Johns told the publication had been "really beneficial to a lot of local people".

The main pool room, which once held swimming galas for 300 spectators, is still untouched and run down.

The trust hopes to raise money to replace its ceiling, which is falling down in places, and one day use the hall for weddings, sport and live music.

Asked whether there could ever be a pool again, Mr Dalton-Johns said: "Never say never."

In August we reported that a new street cleaning team was coming to Rock Ferry.

Details of how to donate are on the Byrne Avenue Baths are on their website. The link to Keep Byrne Avenue Baths Warm is here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/keep-byrne-avenue-baths-warm.

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