Future of bath house is secure '˜for years to come'

Owen Scurrah-Smyth is pictured during a Triathlete Beginners session at Bramley Baths in 2017. Picture by Simon Hulme

The Grade II-listed Bramley Baths, which opened in 1904 as a place for people to wash, has received a £295,000 grant from Power2Change, which supports and grows community businesses via a £150m endowment from the Big Lottery Fund.

Since 2013, the Baths have been run as a community-led social enterprise, after a new management took on the running of the site from Leeds City Council.

Bramley Baths chief executive Sue Stones said the investment will replace existing ageing machinery and she hopes it will reduce the number of pool closures due to technical problems to “practically zero”.

She said “This investment will ensure we can continue to provide services to the community for many years to come.”

The modernisation programme has also been boosted by a £75,000 grant from Sport England, with extra cash coming from the Baths’ financial reserves and a loan.

The “significant” renovations include creating an energy hub to reduce power consumption and emissions, and improve sustainability, helped by engineering consultants WSP.