READER Edwin Elliott was quite correct regarding the swimming pool underneath the ballroom at Askham Grange (Letters, February 26).
I believe it was renovated in the 1980s and used for a short time before being removed as it was too costly to run and was causing structural damage to the fabric of the building. It then became a gym used by prisoners and staff.
The original article regarding the use of the building today failed to mention that women from the prison have been engaged in paid out-work for more than 35 years.
Working as volunteers in the community began in the 1980s and involved working in charity shops, St Leonard’s Hospice, St Sampson’s Centre, York Cemetery, a dog sanctuary, the Waterways Project (helping the disabled on trips on a converted barge) at Goole and many more.
Long may it continue.
Stephanie Slater, York.
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