Hackney celebrates 1 year to go

Free swimming for disabled people and their carers 

To celebrate one year to go until the 2012 Paralympic Games, disabled people and their carers will swim for free at pools across the borough, all year round.  

Dervis Konuralp, Paralympic swimmer and medal winner, and Hackney resident joined Hackney Council's Cabinet member for Health and Social Care and Culture at Clissold Pool to promote its free swimming programme. 

Cllr McShane said: "Not only is swimming is a good way to exercise it's also a great social activity. With one year to go until the 2012 Paralympic Games, we are delighted to be able to extend our successful free swimming scheme to include disabled people and their carers." 

Hackney Council is committed to keep providing free swimming to older and young people in the borough, and already provides a free swimming programme for all under-18s and over-60s all year round.  

There is also an opportunity for disabled people and their carers to learn to swim or gain more confidence in the water for free. Sessions can be booked at www.gll.org/swimfreeinhackney 

Local pools participating in all free swimming schemes are Kings Hall Leisure Centre, Britannia Leisure Centre, and Clissold Leisure Centre. Disabled people and their carers can also swim for free at London Fields Lido.

GLL, a not-for-profit leisure operator, manage the centres for Hackney Council.  

For more information visit: www.gll.org/swimfreeinhackney

1 year to go to the 2012 Olympic Games 

Hackney recently celebrated 1 year to go to the 2012 Olympic Games with a host of events around the borough.

On 4 August, the Metropolitan Police's Community Relations Team will be marking one year to go to the 2012 Olympic Games by inviting residents to find out what the police, Council and other agencies will be doing to make Hackney safe during Games time.

The event, being held from 10am until 3.30pm at St John's at Hackney Churchyard, E8, is also being supported by local Safer Neighbourhood policing teams, Volunteer Police Cadets and the Council's Community Safety and 2012 teams. The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), and the London Ambulance Service will also be in attendance.

Cyclists of all ages took to the air on Haggerston Park's BMX track - one of the activities on offer as part of the Haggerston Parks for Life festival. At the Haggerston event, tocal musicians, including East London's colourful Afro/Latin Jazz/Funk band 7Suns, entertained the crowds. You can catch them again at the Hackney One Carnival on Sunday, August 7th, when Hackney's annual parade is welcomed into Clissold Park for another day of music, fun, food, sport and healthy activity.

Residents also enjoyed the 'Activity for All' event at the Stoke Newington West Reservoir Centre, where sailor Alexandra Rickham, winner of three world titles with partner Niki Birrell, called in to cut the 1-year-to-go cake and see the range of activities on offer to Hackney's disabled residents.

More than 60 Hackney young people were among the first to see the Olympics Aquatics Centre when they were invited to a display of world class diving to mark 1 year to go.

And Hackney hosted two treasure hunts as part of the Create festival's Search Party. Thousands of people performed a series of bizarre tasks - knitting with sheep, joining kazoo orchestras and taking taste tests, to reach their goal - an extraordinary party.

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Page updated: 2 Sep 2011