This heated pool was closed for more than a year as the Laura Fergusson Trust struggled to raise funds but now it's ready to warm and help heal Aucklanders again. Sophie Bond reports.
Four women are bouncing lightly on their toes and gently rotating their wrists as they chat among themselves. Dania Emery is instructing her hydrotherapy group, happy to be back in their favourite pool which reopened two weeks ago.
"We looked around for another warm pool and that was impossible. We found one at a rest home but it was only warmish," she grimaces at the memory.
She says the group formerly had 20 attendees every session but numbers dropped after the pool closed late in 2009 due to structural failure of the centre's roof.
Today there are four of them in the water. Mrs Emery hopes to build up to three sessions a week soon. "We move every joint in the body," she says proudly, "it's excellent for mobilisation and stretching."
Raewyn Austin has been taking Mrs Emery's hydrotherapy classes for four years.
She says all the aches and pains from her rheumatoid arthritis came back when she had to stop therapy during the pool's closure. "It has been horrible, I was so much stiffer and I really missed it."
The Laura Fergusson Trust opened the 34C pool at its Greenlane rehabilitation centre in 1998.
Over 10 years the high humidity damaged the roof, requiring it to be replaced at a cost of $600,000.
Fundraising director Gillian Eagle says the economic climate made raising money for repairs difficult and the trust is thankful to the donors who contributed. "We are still $100,000 short but the pool has been so desperately in need that we wanted to open it."
The roof was redesigned to withstand all the conditions.
At the other end of the pool, Sarah Ireland is manoeuvring herself out the door on crutches, having finished a pool session with her physiotherapist.
She has a connective tissue disorder and recently dislocated both kneecaps. Being able to start hydrotherapy has put a smile on her face. "I found it amazing. I've done only two sessions but I have much more flexibility.
"I'll be coming daily now, for an hour-long session. Being in the water means you can learn to walk again because you're not carrying your own body weight. The biggest thing is building up my confidence."
Warm welcome
Community groups can book the Laura Fergusson Trust hydrotherapy pool by contacting the centre on 524 0537. The pool has wheelchair access and is available seven days a week.
Lap it up
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