IT is the anniversary campaigners feared they would never see.

Just three years ago Oaklands Community Pool in Lordshill, Southampton, was set to close for good.

Opened in 1986, a generation of city children had learned to swim there.

Yet despite an £80,000 facelift in 2002, it was proving a money pit for council bosses battling to balance its massive overheads with shrinking budgets.

They proposed shutting its doors for the final time provoking a massive outcry among local residents.

That initial anger solidified into a a two-year campaign that saw the pool re-opened in January 2015 as a community asset.

This week, the charity behind Oaklands Community Pool held its first annual general meeting, showing the pool that came back from the brink has staying power.

The change in management was made possible by the council’s community asset transfer strategy, brought in in 2013, which allows buildings or land to be transferred to a voluntary, community or faith organisation for community use.

The pool now has a team of 20 staff including the management team, life guards, swimming teachers, and casual workers and welcomes 4,000 swimmers a week.

Facilities manager Dan Lally, who previously worked at Red Lodge Community Pool in Bassett, said: “We’re doing very, very well. We made a small profit last year. I thought we would do well, but not this early on. I was expecting to make a huge loss.

“It’s happened because people have been supporting their local pool. It’s very inspiring. It’s very motivational for us as employers.”

Although the pool was in serious disrepair prior to the charity takeover, the value of the land it sits on meant that the council could invest money in its refurbishment – and £1.7million was spent on it in 2014.

But the current management has also put in cash.

Mr Lally said: “We’ve made some investments – we held a fundraising event for the children’s slide and have made the learner pool better with a £2,000 investment. We’ve also invested in an inflatable aqua run for children’s parties which cost a few thousand.”

Besides running a full swimming timetable, the pool is also hired out by disabled groups, a naturist group and various clubs including Eastleigh swimming club, Southampton triathlon club and Catch 22, a group for disadvantaged families. The pool is also used by 20 local schools.

Mr Lally said: “We’ve engaged with local groups. Our assistant manager works with Eastleigh swim club. All the groups dispersed when the pool closed, but now we’ve got something to offer them. We run a full seven-day programme and it’s open now more than it ever was.

“But we need the community’s support to keep it going.

“We’re looking for volunteers. We will be planting 105 trees to reduce CO2 emissions – we need volunteers to help with that and to be trustees for the charity.”

A key to the pool’s success is making it affordable for everyone. Mr Lally said: “We dropped the prices to what they used to be – we’re trying to keep it in the scope of affordability.”

Councillor Sally Spicer, whose two children learned to swim at the pool, said: “It had been earmarked for gradual closure – the council were winding it down and it wasn’t open at weekends.

“Loss of water was the main problem – the pipe works were so old water kept leaking into the ground and they were filling it every day with a hosepipe.

“Dan got in touch to turn it into a community pool – he had a vision and said he could make it a success. It took two years to get the business plan and paperwork together. And the council paid for an advisor to go over the business plan.

“We weren’t supposed to make a profit for the first three years but Dan had the knowledge.

“There are some people who didn’t believe in our vision and believe the council should still be subsidising it.

“But it would have been devastating for the community if it had closed – it’s a massive asset. We’re a city near the sea and I think it’s great to see it being so well used.”

Southampton’s cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure Cllr Satvir Kaur, said: “Oaklands Pool is a perfect example of how services can be delivered differently.

“As a council we’re a sinking ship – it’s as if we’re putting services on a lifeboat so they can get the attention they need. But this is part of transformation and providing a sustainable long-term future.

“I’m really pleased at how in Southampton we’ve been able to think outside the box. A lot of the services have been working in partnership with charities – like Newtown Youth Centre working with the YMCA and SCA with Cobbett Road Library.

“A lot of the community activists were concerned about lacking expertise but those people who are very passionate have had the opportunity to work with bigger organisations.

“If central government wanted to ring-fence money then these services would absolutely be council run but we’re facing savage cuts from central government.

“One of the reasons residents love Oaklands Pool is that the money is being reinvested rather than going to the shareholders.”