Brockwell Lido Users
About BLU
What BLU does?
BLU – the Brockwell Lido Users – has been in existence since 2001.
Its genesis and original aims as a body that led the campaign to keep the Lido open are important and still
relevant to its present role.
BLU aims to
- Communicate and represent the needs and wishes of all Lido users to Fusion, the not-for-profit leisure
organisation that operates the facility, to Lambeth, and to other relevant stakeholders
- Look after and celebrate for the neighbourhood the special heritage and history of the site, its buildings,
the cafe and the swimming pool
- Play its part in ensuring the sustainability of the Lido, so that all its facilities are maintained
and enhanced for present and future generations.
In summary, BLU exists to protect, promote and shape the Lido.
To that end its office holders and Committee members
- Meet Fusion’s staff and managers every month to register and pursue issues raised by Lido users, and pursue urgent issues between meetings by telephone or email
- Participate in the Brockwell Lido Steering Group, which comprises the Council, Fusion, and other park user groups and in particular develops and monitors the annual Service Delivery Plan (SDP) agreed between Lambeth and Fusion
- Arrange an annual user forum as a focus for consultation, supplementing day-to-day feedback and contact with Lido users which doubles up as the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BLU
- Market BLU at neighbourhood events and through local media, to increase BLU membership and member participation so as to maximise the chances of representing all users’ concerns and influencing Fusion and Lambeth more effectively.
BLU is not incorporated. Nor is it a charity. But it does have a constitution, and its objects (aims) are
- To work to safeguard the Lido’s future as an open-air pool and community based centre for enjoyment of creative, health and child-focused activities;
- To ensure user involvement and consultation in decisions on the future of the Lido;
- To provide user representation in future management structures for the Lido.
BLU does not manage the Lido on a day-to-day basis. This is Fusion’s role, operating under the terms of a
25 year lease, a Community Service Agreement with Lambeth Council and the annual SDP.
BLU has no staff; the Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary, Membership Secretary, Treasurer and
not more than ten additional Steering Committee members who are elected annually at the AGM
are all volunteers and they all use one or more of the Lido’s facilities.
Five members of BLU’s Committee serve as members of the Brockwell Lido Steering Committee (BLSC) alongside representatives of otehr groups and organisations.
BLU has about 1500 members on its mailing lists, and recent AGMs have attracted around 80 attendees in person.
It is funded entirely from voluntary donations and subscriptions and sales of BLU merchandise, and its
funds are spent solely on pursuing BLU’s objectives; the current balance in its accounts is some £5000.