Please help us revamp Puffin Pool, say campaigners
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
The Puffin Hydrotherapy Pool in Dingwall is “limping along” but has had to be closed on a number of occasions because of the failure of an air-handling unit which needs to be replaced.
The charity-run facility provides specialist therapy to adults and children with conditions affecting their joints, bones, muscles or neurological system and is also used to help speed up rehabilitation after accidents and operations.
While replacement equipment has been ordered, the charity’s board is keen to replenish those funds as quickly as possible and has launched a £60,000 fundraising appeal to bridge the gap
Board member Barbara Manson said: “It is limping along until we can get new equipment. We are also very aware there needs to be some internal structural alterations.
“The door from the changing room to the pool area, for example, is quite narrow as well as being heavy. If people have walking aids, they cannot use the door independently.”
She said: “If it has to close for a number of weeks, it can make a real difference to their mobility and pain control.”
Retired GP Helen Charley, board chairman, has also benefited from the pool having needed both hips and knees replaced. She said: “I am all too aware of how vital the Puffin Pool is to the good health and wellbeing of so many patients like me.”
Staff plan a sponsored walk from Tain To Dingwall. A Strathpeffer supporter is being sponsored to “virtually” swim the English Channel and a fundraising quiz night is to be held at Strathpeffer Community Centre on February 15.
