Month: December 2021

It has been another difficult year, both locally at the Ladies’ Pond and in the world beyond.  Swimmers have continued to make the Ladies’ Pond the special place that it is, with the support of the fantastic lifeguard team.

This Christmas will again be very different, and there will be no New Year’s Day celebration at the Ladies’ Pond.  The reasons for this, intended to help reduce the risk of spreading the Coronavirus, are understandable and supported by the KLPA.  We will still miss the raucous and irreverent gathering of our pond community to see in New Year 2022.  This last happened for New Year 2020 (local press coverage here). 

We wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and a healthy New Year, when hopefully the KLPA can resume its social activities.

On Saturday 11 December 2021, 9-11 am, KLPA merchandise will again be on sale at the Ladies’ Pond.

Whether you are buying Christmas presents, or treating yourself, come along to support the KLPA’s campaigning work. We will have mugs designed by pond swimmer Sue Hellard, high-viz knitted hats and copies of the ever popular Wild Swimming Walks book. 

These items are all £10 each. The mugs and hats can be purchased as sets of four for £35 (with mix and match options). The price of the book is already discounted from the retail price of £14.99.  We can take payment by cash, cheque or card.

The KLPA is also still fund-raising to support the costs of a Judicial Review which challenges the current charging regime at the Hampstead Heath bathing ponds.  If you would like to donate to this cause directly, you can still do so here. Over 350 supporters have already pledged money to this cause. The case is now listed for hearing on 23-24 February 2022 at the Royal Courts of Justice.

The application for Judicial Review, which the KLPA is supporting and fund-raising for, was adjourned in November 2021. This application challenges the current charging regime at the Hampstead Heath bathing ponds, on grounds of disability discrimination, and the claimant is KLPA member Christina Efthimiou.

We now have a new date for the hearing, which is listed for one and a half days:
 Wednesday 23 February 2022 to Thursday 24 February 2022

The hearing will take place at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, London WC2A 2LL.

Details of the court number and public gallery capacity will be made available to us much nearer to the date of the hearing, and members will be informed then about how best to show support on the day.

Members can show their support in the meantime by contributing to our crowd funding page for the case here, and please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do likewise.

Thank you to everyone who has helped so far.