Fun and Rewarding Careers at the Waterside Pool

We just wanted to say a huge congratulations to Frankie and Tom on recently being appointed Duty Managers. They have both been with the Waterside Community Trust for many years and with the sad departure of Charity as Duty Manager, who went to further pursue her career on the mainland, it opened up an opportunity for fresh talent to flourish and develop.

FRANKIE

Frankie began working with the Waterside Pool four years ago as a Pool Helper at the age of 15. Being very into TV Shows like "Bondi Rescue" she knew that she had a tremendous interest in life saving and work with the water and it led to her applying to the Waterside.

For anyone joining the Waterside this was a great way to start as the course to become a Pool Helper is paid for by the Trust and helps on the way to starting to have a direction towards a career in leisure. She also had a great interest in being a lifeguard and at the age of 15 she was able to join the Rookie Lifeguard sessions that the Pool holds for younger members to start having an idea about what lifeguarding would involve but in a fun and interesting way until they are old enough to apply for the Pool Lifeguarding Course.

Nine months after Frankie joined the Waterside she went on to train as a Pool Lifeguard on the Pool Lifeguarding Course we supply. Following that she then went on to do her Swimming Teacher Training to become a one of our teachers at the pool. Over the course of her four year career so far at the Waterside Pool, Frankie has completed her Pool Helper Training, Lifeguard Training, Teacher Training and Aquafit Teacher Training.

On looking back at these achievements, Frankie commented: "So many opportunities have been given to me here at the Waterside Pool, any course that I think would help to develop my skills further, I have spoken with the General Manager Todd about it and he has arranged it there and then. Nothing is off limits in terms of training and allowing us to develop further." She went on to say, "Actually this year I am going to be doing the Beach Lifeguarding course, as I have a real interest in that too."

We asked Frankie what is the best part of working at the Waterside Pool and she said, "We are a family here. You really are part of a team that has become like family. So many opportunities have been given to me here, allowing for me to have direction and purpose. The most rewarding part of my job is teaching the kids, seeing how they develop and progress, it's the best bit !"

TOM

Tom has been at the Waterside Pool for two and a half years. He trained as a lifeguard at Medina Pool in Newport and so started with the pool straight away as a lifeguard. After a year he went on to also do his Teacher Training and is currently studying for his Level 3 Diploma in Management through the Smart Training programme that the Waterside Community Trust provides.

We asked Tom as well what he found was the best part of working for the Waterside Pool and he said, "I just love it down here, it is a great place to work, it's really chilled, everyone is always happy and the in summer especially it makes coming to work easy. It is a really special place to be. The roof is open and the sun is coming in and everyone is having a good time."