Community spirit beats vandalism of outdoor Leeds pool

DREAM: The group wishes to restore the pool to its former glory.

The clean up in Otley was organised by the Friends of Otley Lido (FoOLs) group after the site in Wharfmeadows Park was vandalised on Thursday night.

Volunteers started to remove the graffiti on Friday and finished on Saturday morning.

FoOLs said discovering the graffiti was an “unpleasant shock” for the community.

The group have been campaigning to have the site restored.

Chair of FoOLs Leonie Sharp said: “I’d like to give a huge shout out to the Friends of  Otley Lido volunteers who  came to put the hoarding right and get rid of the obscene vandalism done on Thursday evening.

“We really need to focus on making our project to restore the site happen and do not need to be distracted by vandalism.”

The Otley Lido was built in 1924 and ran as an outdoor pool until it was closed in 1993.

Since then it has developed into a neglected eyesore.

In 2015 Leeds City Council announced that they wished to dispose of the site, sparking the campaign to restore it to a heated swimming pool running all year round. FoOLs are calling for residents to vote for them in the Aviva Community Fund which could see the project win a £25,000 prize.

Each registered voter can cast their vote 10 times at  https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/ view/16-1543