A community poet has created a series of spoken word poetry videos to share the stories of the people who use Elswick Community Pool and Gym to promote the reopening of the leisure facility in Newcastle’s West End. Donald Jenkins was commissioned by Elswick Community Pool and Gym to write poems that captured the rich experiences of their regulars and the varied reasons they go to exercise there.
Working in collaboration with community filmmaker Davey Poremba (FlyFilms UK), the poetic films tell human stories with the camera submerged in the action from the deep end of the pool to the treadmill floor.
‘More than a pool’
Priding itself on more being ‘more than a pool’, and a safer space in the heart of the community, the leisure centre supports people with not only their physical but mental health, providing a wide range of sessions with different needs. One poem, narrated by pool staff member, Rashida Ahmed tells of the women only sessions, “Let fellowships of women be enabled to sail safely, crewed by those they trust” ensuring diverse faith communities can participate in exercise and that all women feel comfortable to swim without judgment.
Inspiring stories
Another poem recounts the inspiring story of Mungai Wairia, who plans to participate in his eighth major marathon in Sydney next year at the age of seventy-eight. The dedicated runner who only started racing in his fifties and has run 26 marathons and finished dozens of other races, uses the gym facilities every day, “completing half marathons before half of us leave our bed”.
Elswick Community Pool and Gym
The pool which has been fully closed for a month for extensive developments to decarbonise and replace aging plant machinery. By adding new roof insulation and double glazing it improves the thermal properties of the building fabric. Air Source Heat pumps have replaced the gas boilers and link to a new Building Management System and Air Handing unit for the pool and gym. The addition of solar panels on the roof will reduce electricity consumption and costs helping to secure the long-term future.
Donald Jenkins
Jenkins is a former trustee of the pool and was involved in the campaign to reopen the pool when it was closed due to council cuts back in 2014. He uses his poetry to champion his community having previously worked on Newcastle Council’s ‘Our Adelaide’ project to promote the shopping area in Adelaide Terrace in Benwell and the Tyne and Wear Buildings Preservations Trust project, ‘Stories of the Stones’ which commemorates the people buried in cemeteries in Elswick.
Donald Jenkins said “This pool and gym means so much to the lives of the people in the Westend and beyond. From family bonding time and kids taking part in classes to learn how to swim to specialist sessions for people overcoming negative mental health with exercise being an essential part of their road to recovery. This pool and its staff are parts of people’s extended family and the exercise sessions they offer are vital to this community. I wanted to use my words with Fly Films UK’s video making expertise to show the depth of reasons people use the pool and how it can be safer space for us all”
This article is based on a media release from Donald Jenkins
