You may have seen the recent Swim England communications regarding SwimMark accreditations being put on pause whilst a new framework is developed. This decision was made in the light of the recent six-month SwimMark review, in addition to feedback gained at the Values and Vision Roadshows and the Listening Report. The insight gathered highlighted that the process of completing SwimMark was no longer seen as a development tool by clubs or regions.
No new submissions for SwimMark can now be made in light of the outcome of the review however all clubs are still asked to complete Club Affiliation during their usual SwimMark quarter, to ensure the minimum standards expected by Swim England are met i.e. if you were due to reaccredit for SwimMark in January, you will need to complete the 6 affiliation elements by the normal deadline, via the Club Affiliation section of the SwimMark portal.
For more information regarding the pause on SwimMark, please click here. For FAQs, please click here.
As a region, prior to the SwimMark review, we felt that it was most important that club workforce met the expected standards of safety and quality so we altered our regional bursary criteria to accept applications from all clubs – regardless of SwimMark status – providing their personnel reports were compliant. This means that regardless of SwimMark being on pause, or any future changes to the framework, we will still provide bursaries for all of our East Midland clubs provided they meet the bursary criteria. For more information on our regional bursaries, as well as links to county bursaries, please visit our bursaries page.