26/09/2026
💔 Sometimes running a small family business is really, really hard.
Thursday was one of those days.
We’ve been informed by email, with no phone call, no conversation and no opportunity to discuss it, that all of our future pool hire at Farringdon has been cancelled, we’ve swam in this pool since 2019 and with no communication I can say no other than, I’m heartbroken 💔
For a huge national company, losing a few hours of pool hire probably means very little.
For a small, family-run swim school like Dinkies, those hours mean children learning to swim.
They mean babies taking their first splash.
They mean nervous little swimmers gaining confidence with some of the best teachers around.
They mean our teachers having work and putting food on their table.
They mean families having somewhere affordable to teach their children a skill that could quite literally save their life.
We work incredibly hard to keep our prices as low as we possibly can because we genuinely believe swimming should be accessible to as many children as possible.
We don’t have enormous budgets, endless facilities or big corporate backing.
We’re a small family business that has spent years building something we are incredibly proud of. One swimmer, one family and one lesson at a time.
And unfortunately, sometimes it feels as though the big boots can simply come along and kick the little businesses out of the way.
So, to any of our customers who may be affected by this: please bear with us. ❤️ you all should have an email from us sent on Thursday.
We are already working incredibly hard behind the scenes to find an alternative and make sure we can continue providing lessons for your children.
Dinkies isn’t going anywhere.
We might get knocked down occasionally, but we’ll get back up, find another pool and carry on doing what we do best. 🏊♀️💙
And to every single person who chooses a small, local, family-run business like ours, Thank you.
You genuinely have no idea how much your support means when we get times like these.
Karen & the Dinkies Team 💙
