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The Annual General Meeting of the KLPA will take place (in person!) on Sunday 20 March 2022 from 3.00 pm at the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution (11 South Grove, Highgate, N6  6BS).  We have a maximum capacity for the room of 80, so please indicate via the RSVP button below if you wish to attend:

The Agenda will be as follows:

• Welcome and Apologies

• Chair’s Report (for approval)

• 2021-2022 Accounts and Treasurer’s Report (for approval)

• Update of Constitution (resolution for decision) – current constitution can be seen here

• Membership Report (for information and comment)

• Newsletter and website updates (for information and comment)

• Election of committee members

• Priorities for the year (for discussion)

• Any other urgent business

• Social (please bring food to share)

An Annual Report including the Chair’s and Treasurer’s reports will be circulated approximately one week before the meeting for your consideration.  No further resolutions have been received by deadline.

If you wish to stand for the KLPA Committee please complete this nomination form and get this signed by two other KLPA members nominating you.  Please return your nomination form by 2 pm on 19 March 2022 to klpamailbox@gmail.com.

You can renew your membership if you pay annually, at the AGM, or do so in the meantime via “MemberMojo” here.  If you use this method, click on “Join Us/Renew” (not “Sign In”) to start the process.  Please note your details will be new to this system so you will be greeted as a “new” member, but we know you are renewing an existing membership, and next year you would be greeted by MemberMojo as a renewing member.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at a well attended, in-person AGM.

KENWOOD LADIES POND ASSOCIATION

We have been asked by the venue to request the following from attendees, to comply with their continuing Covid-secure measures:

• that masks are worn when moving around the building;
• maintain distance from others out of respect for their health;
• use the hand sanitiser which is available in the foyer.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Following a successful breakfast event at the Ladies’ Pond in September, we are pleased to let you know that KLPA members have been invited for a return visit to Highgate Men’s Pond. The Highgate Men’s Pond Association would like us to join them for a swim and breakfast on Saturday 16 October 2021 from 8 am to 11 am. Hot drinks and croissants will be provided, along with the good company of our comrades from the Men’s Pond.  The invitation has also been extended to the Mixed Pond Association and Hampstead Heath Winter Swimming Club. In order to access the Men’s Pond it will be necessary to use your season ticket wristband or pay at the entry, as you would at the Ladies’ Pond.  The changing area at the Men’s Pond is no longer divided into two sections but gazebos have been provided to facilitate changing for Ladies’ Pond visitors (a large towel might also come in useful). Children over 8 who have completed their swim test (and have a wristband to prove it) will also be welcome, and will need to be supervised by their adult when at the pond. It is good to see a resumption of the social side of bathing pond swimming on Hampstead Heath, thank you to the HMPA for this invitation.

Petition – Sewage in Rivers Expiring 12 October 2021You may be interested in this parliamentary petition which will be expiring on Tuesday, and has nearly 71,000 signatures as this is written.  It can be considered for debate in Parliament if it reaches 100,000 signatures. “Ban Water Companies discharging raw sewage into water courses. Ensure Water companies treat the sewage they are responsible for. Not discharge it into rivers and water courses. After all what goes into the ocean comes back as the fish we eat.”

We have received confirmation that the Ladies’ Pond will re-open, following the end of the second national lockdown, on 2 December 2020 at 7.30 am.

Please note that the Covid-secure measures and enforced charging regime will remain in place.  The later opening time, which is usual at this time of year, also means that swimmers with an under 16 or over 60 free pass will have half an hour less each morning to make use of this option.

From 2 December 2020 to 23 January 2021 opening times are as follows:
 
Open: 7.30 am
Last entry: 2.30 pm
Vacate water: 2.45 pm
Vacate premises: 3.00 pm

Updated information from the City of London may be found here including advice on habituation after a month away and details of season ticket extension following the lockdown.

Please continue to follow the safe distancing measures put in place at the Ladies’ Pond, including maximum capacity, the number of swimmers permitted to change under each gazebo and at each bench, as well as queuing distances. Following these measures will help to keep the Ladies’ Pond open through the winter.

Welcome back to your pond!

Camden New Journal, 9 July 2020

Ham & High, 6 July 2020

Following yesterday’s government announcement that outdoor swimming “pools” can re-open with effect from 11 July 2020, the City of London plans to open the Ladies’ Pond tomorrow, Saturday 11 July 2020, for 2 separate one hour sessions, from 7-8 am and 8.30-9.30 am, with cleaning taking place between sessions.  We understand that the same pattern is likely to be followed on Sunday 12 July.

A maximum of 30 swimmers per session will be permitted and safe-distancing measures will be in place.

Tickets must be purchased on line from the Hampstead Heath website in order to swim, there will be no admission to anyone who has not booked a ticket.

Please note it is the City of London that is managing the booking process and platform NOT the KLPA.

We will forward links to the booking system for further dates to all members as soon as we receive them BUT tickets to the trial sessions sold out within minutes and we don’t know in advance when we will be notified.

For this reason we advise you to keep checking the City of London website for release of the booking system rather than waiting for our email.

Your comments to the City of London about these procedures can be sent to HH-Swimming@cityoflondon.gov.uk but please copy to klpamailbox@gmail.com. In particular please let the City know if you experience any difficulties due to problems booking on line or additional access needs.

We understand the need to put in place safe-distancing measures as the ponds re-open. However, we also appreciate that many swimmers who have waited patiently for the re-opening will be disappointed by the limited number of tickets available, the enforced payment mechanisms which have been introduced, and the timing of the release of booking information.

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Thank you to all KLPA members and swimmers from other ponds who turned out on Sunday afternoon for a safe-distanced protest at the Ladies’ Pond, and to everyone who helped with stewarding.  About 200 of us were able to form a protective ring around the boundaries of the Ladies’ Pond from gate to gate via the Stock Pond path.  We hope this has sent a clear message to the City of London about how much we care for our pond.

We would also like to say a heartfelt thank you to Nicky Mayhew who has just stood down as KLPA Chair, after making enormous efforts on behalf of KLPA members during a very challenging period at the Ladies’ Pond.  We aim to carry on the good work and live up to her standards.

There is now a new ‘Swim for Victory’ section on this website under ‘Campaigns’ and KLPA members are encouraged to keep campaigning against the new enforced charging regime at the Hampstead Heath bathing ponds.  We have produced some briefing notes to assist with further emailing which can be seen here.  Please make use of these to assist in correspondence with your elected representatives and letters to the press, as well as continuing to write to the decision-makers at the City of London.

The KLPA believes firmly that:

• The swimming ponds are world-famous as an integral and historic part of Hampstead Heath. The methods required to ‘enforce’ payment will destroy their unique atmosphere.
• Swimming provides a community lifeline and is vital to the physical and mental health of many local people.
• The culture of the ponds is one where everyone is equal. There are many swimmers for whom £4.00 and £2.40 will be unaffordable, but there are others who would be willing to donate more IF they could be confident the money would be spent wisely.
• During the consultation the City ‘benchmarked’ charges for the ponds against swimming ‘facilities’ such as the Royal Docks, West Reservoir and the Serpentine which cater for swimmers engaged in athletic training. This is not the way in which most people swim in the ponds. Many of the women who visit the Ladies’ Pond do not necessarily swim but come to seek solace and inspiration in a safe, accessible place.

Thank you again for all your support and efforts – together we are strong.

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Photographer and KLPA archivist Sarah Saunders has also published a gallery of more photographs from the protest here.

Recent months have been tough for most of us. In addition to the threat of Covid-19 and the pressures of lockdown, we have had to contend with closure of all the ponds during the pandemic and the unwelcome prospect of the City changing the atmosphere of the Ladies’ Pond for ever.

We can’t wave a magic wand and make it all go away, but some of our creative fellow swimmers have been focusing on the positives of pond life to celebrate our extraordinary community. Take a look at the latest additions to the Lockdown Gallery for photographs, films and a new book in aid of charity by Ruth Corney featuring twenty years of photographs of Ladies’ Pond swimmers, together with ‘Pond Postcards’ curated by Highgate Festival Director Alicia Pivaro, and two galleries of her own photographs from KLPA archivist Sarah Saunders.

While you’re there, scroll up for more recent films, images and words from pond swimmers, and a tribute to a much loved and now sadly lost canine visitor.

Many of you will have seen the Highgate Festival’s pink plaques celebrating the achievements of women and ‘reclaiming pink and the past’. We are delighted and honoured to find that this year’s Festival has awarded a pink plaque to celebrate us, the swimmers and lifeguards of the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond. The plaque will be erected in September (Covid-19 restrictions permitting), proving again that we are not just another ‘swimming facility’.

Below is a summary of the key points relevant to pond swimmers discussed at the virtual meeting of the City of London’s Hampstead Heath Management Committee on 3 June. An updated City proposal, circulated at the start of the meeting (with no opportunity to review it in advance) can be downloaded here. Please note that this plan is the City’s NOT ours. They invited comments on the original version and – following a narrow majority of KLPA members voting in favour of co-operation – KLPA representatives met with CoL on 2 June, the eve of the Management Committee meeting. Our feedback is not reflected in their document.

In short there has been no real movement in the City’s plans beyond responding to COVID-19 by controlling access to swimming in the ponds once it is deemed safe to return. Ahead of the Management Committee meeting we suggested (as we also did before lockdown) that they might suspend the increase in charges – or even offer the limited number of swims available free of charge – during the “recovery” period (see email here). As yet we have received no response and as far as we know our email was not forwarded to the committee. The City intends to go forward with enforcement of the increased charges, alongside its proposed measures to re-open the ponds and lido to very limited numbers of swimmers. The earliest possible date for opening is 4 July 2020, and the actual date will depend on national progress with controlling the spread of COVID-19 and preparedness of staff and premises. The technology needed to implement the limited re-opening, not to mention that required for the longer-term implementation of the compulsory charges, is yet to be finalised.

At our on-line meeting with the Heath management and Anne Fairweather, incoming Chair of the Management Committee, KLPA representatives outlined many practical concerns about the City’s plans, including: season ticket chaos, digital exclusion, crowds of people who haven’t booked attempting to enter the ponds on warm days, and unclear rescue protocols. So far there does not appear to have been much attempt to address these in detail, and we remain concerned that the City’s plans to re-open the ponds and lido will be riven with difficulties, even before we consider the impact of inflated compulsory charges on our pond community.

It is suggested that members with questions about the proposed re-opening should address them directly to Heath Management hampstead.heath@cityoflondon.gov.uk and/or the Chair of the Hampstead Heath Management Committee anne.fairweather@cityoflondon.gov.uk. If you do write, please also send a copy to us at klpamailbox@gmail.com so that we also understand your concerns.

Everyone will have their own questions, but points that seem particularly important include:

• How will fair rationing of available swimming time be achieved?
• How will abuse of the on-line system (e.g. multiple bookings) be prevented?
• How will those who can’t use digital services or contactless payment be supported?
• Will swimmers with disabilities be supported?
• When and how will season ticket sales resume?
• How long will these “short term” measures be in place?

Our recent survey confirmed that the majority of KLPA members continue to oppose the City’s new charging regime (enforced payment of charges increased by 100% for adults from £2.00 to £4.00, and by 140% for concessions from £1.00 to £2.40). Co-operation with limited re-opening of the pond does not imply our agreement with or approval of the City’s decision.

Now that lockdown is easing and many people are less preoccupied with the immediate impact of the health emergency, it seems possible to resume campaigning without being insensitive to those in the wider community who have suffered as a result of the virus. If you wish to be involved please email  klpamailbox@gmail.com to let us know.