ORGANISERS of a swimming club have made a desperate plea for more volunteers to come forward after telling children the group could fold, nearly 50 years after it was founded.

Dozens of children at Turton Swimming Club were devastated after being told the club was in danger of closing because it was not attracting enough volunteers to run the two weekly sessions.

The club, which was founded by Ron Hart in 1966 with just six pupils, originally operated out of Egerton baths before moving into the Turton Leisure Centre in 1974 with 50 young people turning up for the first sessions on July 16 that year.

The club continued to grow from strength to strength at its new base, which was transferred from the council's control to Turton High School in 2012, with as many as 120 children being taught by a group of volunteers at its peak.

But now the number of volunteers has dried up with just six available on a consistent basis, and only three of those able to stay for both groups.

And with two of the volunteers set to leave at the end of the year, organisers are now scrambling to find more community minded people to come forward to help keep the popular group afloat beyond the Christmas period.

They are looking for people who can take on a variety of roles from bookkeeping to conducting swimming lessons.

Deputy chair of the group Alice Peall said: "At the time of the club opening local parents were finding it hard financially so the club was opened as a non-profit organisation. Everybody who is involved is a volunteer, which keeps the cost down for parents. We currently have over 100 children on the books and a large waiting list. We can't take any new children at the moment as we don't know where we will stand after Christmas. The club has already gone from running three sessions to two."

Club chairman Carole Richardson announced the closure on the swimming club's Facebook group.

She said: "It is with great sadness that tonight I had to tell the children that unless we get more volunteers the club will have to close after Christmas. This will be very sad and a great loss to the area but at the present time we have six regular volunteers who come weekly and only three of these stay for the second group. Tim, Donna and Bernadette do a fantastic job at front of house with Tim doubling up to help out at the second group."

Bromley Cross councillor David Greenhalgh, leader of the Conservative Group on the council, said: "The club has been going for years so we don't want it to close.

"There may be some short term grants available and I'll help them with that, which they might be able to use to find more volunteers.

"There are things we can try to keep them going. They have always had a focus on children that might not necessarily be able to afford lessons elsewhere and that's something I want to continue."