Paving the Way (at the Mencap Pool)

Providing Safe & Level Access in Emergencies

Update 20 April 2011

We've been back!!  20 April saw 9 intrepid members return to the scene to drive the path onto even greater glories.  Braving the risks of heatstroke & dehydration terrific progress was made, with the path now almost reaching the "dangerous corner" where we may need to resport to angle-grinders and all sorts.  However, we do have all the materials we need now and a few short hours to finish off.

New and improved pictures added to the slideshow!

For many years, Mencap Hillingdon have provided a hydrotherapy pool for disabled children & adults.  Running the pool is expensive and the charity relies on generous donations just to keep the pool running.  Funds for "non-essential" works are in very short supply.  In 2010 we heard that the paving slabs that had been donated to provide safe access to the pump house and for use in emergencies had gone missing, putting off any possibility of completing the work.

The club took on the project and applied for a 1090 District grant to help with the 50% of cost of materials - the phyiscal work being carried out by club members and volunteers.  Saturday 12 March was a very satisfying morning with 7 members of the club laying the new access path. Lovely spring morning, ideal for a bit of manual labour! We identified this project as something we could usefully do back in the middle of 2010 and in October we cleared the area.  We had our materials delivered in the February half-term (because the pool is on a special school site we can only get deliveries in the holidays).

As with all good building projects the team doing the work differed somewhat from the team that estimated the job, so we'll be back during Easter holidays when we've had some more materials delivered to let us finish the job! (Actually we've made the path a bit wider than orginally planned so that wheelchairs can comfortably go down it when it's used as an emergency exit).

Good fun, good craic, and a feeling of satisfaction for a job well under way.