A SWIMMING club is celebrating a fruitful relationship with a bank that has helped it grow and develop a competition-winning squad.

A scheme that matches pound-for-pound funds raised by Barclays Bank employees has helped Northallerton Amateur Swimming Club raise almost £10,000 over the last five years.

Carol Gardner, who works in the bank’s Bedale branch, has two daughters, Lucy, 11 and Gemma, 16, who have been keen swimmers with the club since they were small. She’s is the club’s membership secretary and Gemma is now a club captain.

Colleague Claire Atkinson, a member of the bank’s team in Northallerton, got involved with fundraising for the club last year when her daughter Olivia, 10, joined. She is now its competitions secretary.

Carol said: “Over the years, the bank’s generosity has helped us amass almost £7,000 for the swimming club, which has grown in that time from 60 or so members to a current figure of more than 120.

“Since Claire came on board too, last year we managed to secure £1,915 in matched funding from Barclays, which has made a massive difference to the club’s ability to grow and nurture our fantastic young swimmers.”

Over the years the money raised, together with support from others, has enabled the swimming club to buy new starting blocks, anti-turbulence lane ropes, an electronic starter, storage facilities and various training aids, as well as extra coaching time to help bring on younger swimmers.

A development squad has also been created by head coach Greg Ient and his team to give swimmers the chance to reach their potential by providing additional training and support both in and out of the water and aid them in their drive for competitive success.

Various fundraising activities have been organised, including supermarket bag packs, prize draws and an awards presentation evening at the Forum in Northallerton at the end of last year to celebrate swimmers’ successes.

Claire said: “We are delighted with the amount raised for Northallerton Amateur Swimming Club and would like to thank everyone who supported us to make this happen.

“It’s about giving back our skills, time and energy to support our local communities – so we’re thrilled to have raised this money.”

The investment and dedication by the 50-year-old club’s coaches, swimmers and their parents is paying off in the form of significant competition success, taking top honours at a number of regional galas.

For details of how to get involved, email nasc@nasc.co.uk or call 07861 806637.