Swimming pool at the heart of a remote community

In a remote Aboriginal community around 480km east of Carnarvon, the local remote Aboriginal swimming pool is firmly embedded as the heart of the township. Burringurrah Community Pool opened for the season at the start of the school holidays, and has been buzzing with activity ever since.

Keeping a watchful eye over the pool and its enthusiastic visitors is brand-new Pool Manager Mel Warren, who is slowly adjusting to remote rural life. “To say it is easy living out in a remote community would be dishonest, to say I hate it would also be dishonest, and to say I love it would be dishonest,” she writes in her blog.

“The reality is, I enjoy living out here, as I love what it means to the community – to have a pool that helps the community come together, gets the kids to school and gets community into a fun activity. It’s amazing to see these people grow and smile.”

With the water at Burringurrah Community Pool still a chilly 22 degrees, Mel has been doing lots of short activities that she’s taken from Royal Life Saving's Junior Lifeguard Club program – activities such as talk rescues, reach rescues, throw rescues and survival techniques.

“The kids have been really enjoying their time at the pool, with music running through the speakers and some outside water activities including basketball. It’s been a really enjoyable start to the season!”

Burringurrah pool is at the centre of this Aboriginal community, and boasts a 25-metre pool, toddlers’ pool, shaded grass area, kiosk, change rooms and barbecue.

Find out more about the impact our Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pool project is having at the link below.