The Ward Freman swimming pool has been an integral part of Buntingford and surrounding villages since the 1970’s. Generations of children and adults have learnt to swim there and completed in many school and club competitions. When the district council took the decision to close the pool in December 2023 on health and safety grounds the community was surprised and saddened.

A group of local individuals have since formed the Ward Freman Community Pool Group Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), a registered charity in England and Wales (1207746) with the aim of repairing, revitalising and reopening the Ward Freman swimming pool as a community owned and run asset.

Community support for the pool is evident from a petition to keep the pool open and £890 being donated within two months to a ‘Go Fund Me’ set up by Louise Hampton following notification that the pool was to be closed.
Within three months of the closure, pool users have rallied together and after seeking the opinions, support and help of the community in a questionnaire that received 650 responses, eight trustees have volunteered themselves to lead the campaign to open the swimming pool for all to use.

The group is working hard with Hertfordshire County Council (who own the site), East Hertfordshire District Council and Everyone Active to ascertain what remedial work is required to bring the pool back into operation and how this can be funded.
As a charity they have commissioned their own structural survey to confirm that the broken pool tiles are an age related issue due to failed expansion joints and not due to subsidence. The pool was drained in April 2024 and it is still standing securely. Essentially this means that the hole in the ground and the building surrounding it are sound and worth investing in making the pool part of the community for at least another 50 years.

The capital funding plan to refurbish the pool has changed due to the government stopping the Community Ownership Fund. It is therefore going to take longer than first anticipated to raise the necessary funds to complete all the modernisation works. The group are now looking to open the pool primarily with just the essential work completed and over the coming years refurbish the changing rooms, dry side and the rest of the building.

Advice has been sought from other communities who have re opened their swimming pools (some from a worse situation than Ward Freman) and are thriving. The Ward Freman Community Pool Group is committed to the pool re opening, be financially self sufficient and that profits will be re invested to improve and expand facilities.

In May 2025 the group met with councillors from Hertfordshire County Council and East Herts District Council and presented their business plan. Once independently scrutinised Hertfordshire County Councillors must then vote on the future of the pool. The preferred outcome for the group is a long term lease with a peppercorn rent. Once a lease has been granted work can start on repairing the pool tiles and filtration system.

Fundraising still goes on and will remain part of the business plan in the years to come, demonstrating the local community support. Headlines of the fundraising efforts are on the History of the Pool page along with more details in the Blog.
The How you can help page lists the upcoming fundraising events.