Fife's two year wait for children's swimming lessons

Danyel VanReenen, Local Democracy Reporting Service, on the long delays to get youngsters into the pool to learn to swim

Transcript

00:00 There are hundreds of children and families across Fife waiting on waiting

00:04 lists to get into swimming lessons. In some places, parents have been warned

00:08 that their children will likely be on wait lists for at least 18 months to two

00:11 years before getting into a pool for swim lessons operated by the council.

00:15 Councillor Louise Kennedy-Dalby is one of those parents. Her eight-year-old son

00:20 was on a swim lesson wait list for 20 months before finally getting into the

00:24 pool this January. She said that right now when you put your name down you get

00:28 warned that there is a hefty wait list. When she first signed up she was told

00:32 that it would be 18 months to two years minimum just because for a small site

00:37 like East Sands there were over 150 names already on the wait list. However a

00:42 spokesperson for the Fife Sport and Leisure Trust said that providing an

00:45 exact wait list is challenging due to various factors. They said that they've

00:49 also experienced increased demand for programs and services which has

00:53 naturally affected waiting times. They said that they appreciate customers

00:57 patience as they work to minimize wait times and ensure that everyone receives

01:01 a high quality of instruction and support. This is Danielle Van Reenen, the

01:05 local democracy reporter for Fife. Thanks for listening.