Join in the #SplashMob on Peckham Rye Park on Sunday 10 July 2016 and help raise funds to reinstate the once-loved Peckham Lido

What lido, I hear you cry?! Peckham Lido has been buried underground in an underused corner of Peckham Rye for almost 30 years, and a group of pretty cool local residents have decided to bring it back for the whole community to enjoy.

The Spacehive crowd-funding campaign so far has 885 backers and have achieved pledges totalling £41,365. They’re goal is £64,793, so they’re 64% of the way there.

Once a well loved 50 metre outdoor swimming pool, Peckham Lido served the swimmers and sun-bathers of south east London for over 50 years. But by 1987 it had fallen into disrepair and was filled in. Now all that remains visible is the crumbling blue fountain.

Lido’s seem to be having a bit of a renaissance. Up and down the country, Britain’s lidos are coming back to life and if Brockwell Park, Tooting and Charlton can have a lido, then Peckham Rye can have a lido too!

The Peckham Lido campaign wants to rebuild Peckham Lido on the same site as the original, using the existing mature trees to frame the new buildings.

Funding from the campaign will be used to conduct a study into the feasibility of delivering a 50-meter heated Olympic-standard pool, outdoor cinema with amphitheatre seating, roof-top sunbathing areas, restaurant, gym, yoga studio and wild-swimming (phase two will bring a separate natural pool, tapping into the River Peck that flows beneath).

Join in the #SplashMob from 12noon-4pm on Sunday 10 July to help raise finds for and awareness of the campaign. As well as a slip ‘n’ slide, there’ll be rounders and a community picnic. Take your swimmers, lilos and inflatables along too for the #SplashMob selfie at 1pm.

And like all good campaigns, it even has a celebrity backer. Here’s James Norton telling you why Peckham Lido is a good idea: