Parkinson’s Swimming at Glass Mill Leisure Centre

Starting in September Glass Mill Leisure Centre will start hosting 12 weeks of reduced rate swimming sessions for people with Parkinson’s. This has been made possible through receiving funding from the Parkinson’s UK Physical Activity Grant.

The session is open to all Lewisham residents with Parkinson’s and their carers. The swimming session can be book in centre and will run every Thursday at 2pm for 12 weeks.

Having worked with our local Parkinson’s UK group, swimming was identified as an activity that people with Parkinson’s would most benefit from. Users from the local Parkinson’s UK group also toured Glass Mill Leisure Centre to view its accessibility and ease of access to the water.

The main pool at Glass Mill Leisure Centre can be access via stairs or a platform lift, so this venue was chosen as users felt this met the needs of people with Parkinson’s and their carers.

As part of this project we hope to be able to introduce people to the gym and give them the confidence to come in independently and use exercise to help manage their condition.

A spokesperson for Parkinson’s UK said “we are really pleased that you have been successful in getting this grant to offer swimming to people with Parkinson’s. We all know the benefits swimming has especially as water takes the weight and pressure off of people’s joints. Across London there is limited access to physical activity for people with Parkinson’s, so we hope this project will encourage people of Lewisham to become more physically active”

To ensure the success of this project we will not only work with our local Parkinson’s UK group, but the Parkinson’s team at University Hospital Lewisham and other medical services in the borough.

If you or you know of anyone in the borough who has Parkinson’s and would like to take part in these sessions please contact the local Parkinson’s group https://localsupport.parkinsons.org.uk/provider/lewisham-branch or email matthew.houghton@gll.org