Funding setback won’t stop Alexandra Park

Cllr Mike Amesbury has confirmed that plans are still in place to improve the much loved park.
This follows news that Manchester City Council's bid to the HLF/BIG Lottery Parks for People Fund for a grant to restore Alexandra Park in Whalley Range has not been successful.
Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture & Leisure at Manchester City Council said: " This news is very disappointing not only for me but also the local community who love Alexandra Park and who have worked to help put the bid together, but it does not change Labours commitment to improve the park. We will continue to work with funding bodies and the communities around the park to achieve our plans".
The bid to restore the park was submitted in September last year to the Parks for People Fund, a joint initiative between the Heritage Lottery Fund and BIG Lottery and the City Council plans to resubmit the bid later in the year.
The plans for Alexandra Park, which are supported by a number of Sports Governing Bodies, include the reintroduction of sporting activity into the park, the reinstatement of the Park's Victorian pathways and other historic features, the reintroduction of flowerbeds and a programme of community activities and events involving other partner organisations to revitalise the park.
Alexandra Park sits alongside Princess Road two miles south of the city centre and is a listed Grade II landscape for its innovative design, the completeness of its layout, and the value of its remaining features. It was opened in 1870, after a competition to design the Park was won by the architect Alexander Hennell with the unusual feature of two, male and female, keep-fit areas. He also created a series of curved footpaths, around oval and circular areas catering for the fashion of 'promenading' by large numbers of people.

Free Swimming for young people all year round

Manchester Labour has ‘taken the plunge’ and opted in, providing under-16s and over-60s with free swimming all year round.

The Labour Government’s £140 million free swimming programme has been designed to extend opportunities to swim and to maximise the health benefits of wider participation in swimming. You can swim for free at any local leisure centre pool, including Wright Robinson Sports College.

Labour Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said: “For several years now, Labour run Manchester City Council has been providing free holiday swimming for young people, and last year – in partnership with Manchester NHS – it also started to provide free swimming for the over-60s.”“Now the Labour Government is introducing free swimming nationally, which will enable Manchester to develop its swimming programme even further, helping those who haven’t yet benefited from free swimming to be able to do so, and with the tough financial crisis we are all facing, helping to ease the burden on the family budget. The health benefits of swimming are endless, for young and old alike.”

The Government is aiming to get 2 million people more active by 2012.

Be a part of it…………….For more information on how to “swim for free” simply visit your local leisure centre or phone Leisure Services Community Activity Section on 0161 232 3104.Getting more people; more active; more often!