Almost 200 members of Northampton Sun Club have been told they can no longer swim naked at Mounts Baths in Northampton, after the leisure centre's new operators enforced a swimwear policy. The naturist group had held monthly nude swimming sessions at the 30-metre pool since 1982.
Sudden cancellation
The group received an email from the new general manager just two days before their usual meet-up last month, cancelling all future bookings. The leisure centre, now run by Everyone Active after taking over from Trilogy Active in April, said the naturists had breached the company's swimsuit policy and that they could not secure the staffing agreements needed for the two-and-a-half-hour swim and sauna sessions.
Club treasurer David Farnsworth, 51, said: "It's discrimination because the management simply don't like the idea of what we are doing. We have been holding these monthly naturist swims for decades with no issues and we now have more than 190 members who are bitterly disappointed."
Members' reactions
Club chairwoman Maggie Moreton, in her 70s, said: "We just feel that there is no respect for our group. Swimming is an absolute delight with no swimsuit on. I have been coming to these monthly swims for 14 years and no one has ever had any issues or problems." She added that newcomers are welcome to wear a swimsuit but quickly realise it is unnecessary, and that showers before entering the pool make it more hygienic than wearing costumes.
David Farnsworth said he would "love" to take legal action but lacks the funds. "Even though the law is certainly on our side, we don't have the money to take this through the courts," he explained.
Operators stand by decision
Mark Bass, president of British Naturism, said he hoped leisure bosses would reconsider their "knee-jerk" decision. However, Everyone Active, which runs more than 230 leisure centres across the UK, stood by the ban. A spokesman said: "We're currently unable to offer naturist swimming sessions at Mounts Baths because we have been unable to secure the staffing agreements needed to operate them. We understand this is a change from what's been offered before and may be disappointing to those who took part." They added that if circumstances change, they will review the position.
