Games

Sting Gives Money to Tynemouth Lido Campaign to Renovate Outdoor Swimming Pool

August 2, 2013
Michelle Topham

sting

Sting gives big donation to Tynemouth lido campaign

I think this is a fabulous story. Sting, the British singer and former member of The Police, has reportedly given a large sum of money to the Tynemouth lido campaign — a campaign that is being run by members of the public in an effort to raise £5m to renovate and update the now-defunct Tynemouth outdoor swimming pool.

The campaign has been ongoing for a few months, with plans to not only reopen the Tynemouth lido, but also to build a restaurant, a cafe and a public play area. The swimming pool is located on Longsands beach in an absolutely stunning location, but it’s sadly been closed since the 1980s due to lack of funds.

Why did Sting donate money to the Tynemouth lido campaign?

Now, you might be asking why Sting would give money to a campaign to reopen a lido in Tyenmouth? One that’s already been closed for more than 30 years. That’s probably because he grew up in the area and, while still a teacher, once took a class of pupils swimming there for the day.

With Sting’s apparently rather large donation, it’s now made it possible for the group running the campaign to get charitable status and, thus, ask for funding legitimately.

The other side effect of Sting’s donation that I can tell you, as a former professional fundraiser myself, is that a lot more people will now donate to the Tynemouth campaign. Simply because Sting has.

Thanks Sting. Awesome campaign and I really wish the Tynemouth lido people all the success in the world. It’s lovely to see some things from the UK’s past being restored to their former glory, rather than knocked down and cemented over, and this is just one more.

By the way, if you too would like to follow in Sting’s footsteps and give money to the Tynemouth lido campaign, you can now do so at Just Giving.