Mother fights to save Leicester leisure centre pool as council considers closure, warning her severely disabled son could lose his only accessible swimming facility

A mother in Leicester is urging the city council to keep New Parks Leisure Centre open, warning that its closure could leave her severely disabled son without access to a suitable swimming pool. Susan Wilder, 67, said the centre was the only facility she had found that could accommodate her 19-year-old son, who uses a wheelchair full-time and has complex physical, visual and hearing impairments.According to the BBC, swimming provides him with his only form of cardiovascular exercise and gives him a sense of freedom. Leicester City Council is consulting on proposals to close the leisure centre and invest £8 million in transforming Leicester Leys Leisure Centre.What makes pool facilities essential for Susan Wilder’s sonWilder said her son had been swimming at New Parks Leisure Centre for 19 years. He attends once one week and twice the next. She explained that he cannot use a standard pool chair because of his complex disabilities and requires specialist facilities to enter the water safely.He requires a poolside changing room with a ceiling-track hoist and a changing bed. The bed is brought to the poolside before he is transferred into the water using the hoist.Wilder said, "He loves the freedom of it and it's also the only cardiovascular exercise he gets.”"He has no speech, but he just generally loves the water."Family struggles to find an accessible swimming pool for disabled sonWilder said her family had searched for alternative swimming facilities, including centres outside Leicestershire, but had been unable to find a suitable option for her son.Wilder said, "We're willing to travel with him, we're willing to travel out of the county, but there's nowhere available to meet his needs.”She explained that while many disabled people could use swimming pools with the help of a pool chair, her son's needs were different. He requires facilities that allow him to be transferred from his changing bed into the water using a ceiling-track hoist.She said, "You have to look at people's needs to be able to access a swimming pool in the correct way. It's not just for my son, it's for anybody that has the disabilities that he's got.”New Parks closure plan sparks concern over disabled son's swimming accessLeicester City Council has described New Parks as the city's least used leisure centre and plans to spend £8 million transforming Leicester Leys Leisure Centre under the proposals.A petition calling for New Parks to be saved has received more than 2,150 signatures. However, Wilder said Leicester Leys would be too busy for her son because of his multi-sensory impairment, which includes hearing and visual impairments. She said he would not be able to swim there even if a pool hoist were installed.Wilder also expressed concern that the future of New Parks might already have been decided.According to Leicester Mercury, she said, “It’s a dif­fer­ent feel­ing; it’s sens­ory and helps relax him. I just want to make the coun­cil under­stand how import­ant it is that he and oth­ers get access to be able to swim.”“This is why I’m so against New Parks clos­ing.”How does the council plan to support swimmers with complex disabilitiesLeicester City Council said it had spoken to a range of swimming pool users during the consultation to understand their individual requirements and explore whether their needs could be met at other sites.A council spokesperson said, "All city council swimming pools offer disabled pool hoists designed to support users with diverse mobility requirements and transfer preferences, including compatibility with standard slings and adapted poolside chairs.”"After speaking with Sue, we understand that her son needs deeper water, so Aylestone Leisure Centre is making some small adaptions that will mean this centre will also be suitable for them and others to use.”"No decision has been made on the future of New Parks Leisure Centre, and we encourage everyone to have their say by November 3rd."You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.