Bolton One: Family Splash

 

Designed to be specifically allotted for families and young swimmers. The Jason Kenny Centre at Bolton One now hosts regular family, swim slots.  Today we decided to visit for one of their family splash sessions.

Up until 9 months Theon had, had swimming lessons. The pre-paid 10 week block had been booked in preparation for his first summer in Greece. However, apart from a quick dip over the summer we hadn’t ever been swimming altogether, as a family before. This lack of water based fun due to the logistics of having two under two. The biggest issue being that once you become a mum of multiple young ones, you’re totally out numbered!

New Family Splash

Held in the shallow pool at the following days and times:

Monday, Thursday & Fridays> 09:00 – 10:00

Tuesdays> 9.00 – 10.00 & 16:00 – 17:00

Sunday> 10:00 – 11:00

“This new session has been designed to enable one parent or guardian to bring up to three children under the age of 8 into the pool, providing appropriate water aids are being worn by non-swimmers and the parent or guardian is in the water at all time.”

Affordability

Admission for both kids was free and only myself and Yianni had to pay, with our total, joint admission costing less than £6.

Facilities

Their spacious, unisex changing facilities were clean, well kept and equipped with the following:

Hair dryers (20p charge)

Baby change cubicle

Nice large changing cubicles

Large lockers (£1- refundable)

Open showers

Toilets

Cafe with large glass patrician, facing the pool. For those not wanting to swim, but still wanting to participate in the visit.

All staff members that we came in contact with (on reception and by the pool) were very helpful and well mannered. The centre had a great feeling of calm about it, which really put us all at ease. Going swimming with two under two can be really stressful and we didn’t want to project this on to the kids, or spoil their experience.

 

Baby Friendly

Although there were some older children in the pool, the pool itself was not over crowded and all swimmers were either small children or not confident swimmers. There was plenty of room for both baby and toddler to practice swimming and build their confidence without worrying about bumping into anyone or being splashed by overly boisterous, older kids. There were multiple life guards on pool side, who were actively maintaining safety both in and around the pool. As a mum of a 6 month old I felt relaxed and at ease.

Thank you Bolton One, for considering the needs of everyone and especially families. We will definitely be back!

The Boos & The Berrit xxxx

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.