Midhurst swimming club ‘may have to close down’ after Richardson’s Travel goes under

Midhurst and District Swimming Club has around 30 members and has helped hundreds of children learn to swim through the years but has had financial struggles.

Kathryn Davies, who runs the club, said that Richardson’s Travel had agreed to drop its fares to help the club, which was likely to have to pay double for a different provider.

She said: “We’re really really sad about this, the drivers have been amazing and they’ve supported the club for years, so on a personal level and for the club we’re really sad and for the drivers that are going to be unemployed.”

She said the club would continue for the next five sessions or so, asking parents to drop their children off at Haslemere or make alternative arrangements.

After that, it seemed unlikely the club could continue as prices quoted for another coach company was likely to be in the region of an extra £15,000 a year.

“It will be a really sad day but we just can’t come up with a viable option. I don’t think any of us appreciated how reasonable Richardson’s have been.”

She said alternatives such as the community bus or school bus would be much tougher to organise with insurance to sort and parents needed who were licensed to drive the vehicles.

Companies from out of the area had to travel further to come in and didn’t see the transport as worth their while, whereas Richardson’s service had worked ‘beautifully’, she said.

“I’m gutted for Richardson’s, really sad but unfortunately for the club, it means that the club will have to close, but we still have a couple of weeks to try and look at our options.”

If you have an idea of how Midhurst and District Swimming Club could keep going, call Kathryn on 07880646464.