Budgy Smuggler tips in $100k to support remote NT swimming pools

Budgy Smuggler has announced its largest-ever community investment, committing more than $100,000 to help keep remote Northern Territory pools open after closures left communities without vital swimming access.

Budgy Smuggler has committed over $100k in cash and in-kind support to the Remote Pools Project in the Northern Territory. Picture: Supplied

Budgy Smuggler is backing a major push to reopen and operate swimming pools across remote Northern Territory communities, committing more than $100,000 over two years for free swimming lessons and on-the-ground support.

Budgy Smuggler CEO Adam ‘Linny’ Linforth said he first learned of the closures - some triggered by a tragic drowning - while watching a story about the Y Northern Territory’s Remote Pools Project, led at the time by former elite swimmer Kurt Herzog.

The program now operates seven pools with the help of local staff & community members.

Linny called the shutdowns a “classic own goal” by government, arguing that removing access only left kids less safe.

“Closing a pool and leaving community members, especially kids, less capable of swimming doesn’t add up long-term,” he said

Ngukurr pool before and after it was re-opened (it has been shut a year beforehand). Picture: Supplied

The brand’s contribution will help deliver 18 months of free lessons across four communities spanning an area twice the size of France.

It adds to Budgy Smuggler’s support for health and mental wellbeing programs, including Tri Mob and an upcoming Lifeline partnership.

Ltyentye Apurte's community pool, with its proudly green grass. Picture: Supplied

Linny said remote pools were essential for community health, local jobs and school attendance, and simply a source of joy, from kids’ smiles to newly launched aqua aerobics sessions for Elders.

“You don’t have to be a doctor to know that swimming improves health, and in remote communities it reduces the rates of otherwise rare diseases like chronic ear and eye infections,” he said.

“There’s nothing better than seeing a kid with a massive grin as they leap into the pool.”

The project also brings volunteer swim teachers into community, fostering cultural and two-way learning.

This season’s goal is to keep all seven pools open and safe, with five more communities already asking for support to build or reopen their own.

To learn more people can visit the Budgy Smuggler or Remote Pools Project websites.

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Originally published as Budgy Smuggler tips in $100k to support remote NT swimming pools