About Beccles Lido Limited
Beccles Lido Limited (BLL) was set up in 2009 by Suzanne Gibbons, Maureen Saunders and Shaun Crowley (seen here signing the freehold to the Lido). Our vision was to acquire the old and neglected heated open air swimming pool in Beccles and to create a destination facility – Beccles Lido, where local people, visitors and tourists would want to visit and where bathers could have fun, keep fit or just relax in the beautiful surroundings of the River Waveney.
BLL is a company limited by guarantee (to protect its Directors) and a registered charity. The Directors (who are also the Trustees) were initially recruited through Waveney District Council based on business, financial and management skills as well as relevant knowledge and experience including within the charitable sector.
Having established Beccles Lido as a successful, community run enterprise, BLL acquired Beccles Public Hall & Theatre in 2013 and now successfully runs and manages this historic landmark building as a popular entertainment venue that is also available for hire.
To support this new venture and to add further resilience and accountability to BLL, the Board was expanded at the beginning of 2012 with the addition of new Directors: Sue Bergin, John Cushing, Terry Dentith and Eric Wareham, with John and Terry having extensive knowledge of the Hall.
In 2012 Beccles Lido acquired Big Dog Ferry, which has become a popular attraction on the River Waveney for trips between the Lido and The Locks Inn Community Pub at Geldeston.
Sue Bergin, John Cushing, Terry Dentith and Eric Wareham have since resigned and BLL owes each a huge debt of gratitude for their hard work and vision in making its assets the success that each is today.
In 2020 Vicky Russ became a Trustee (and subsequently Chair) and brought a wealth of experience in the Leisure sector to BLL; and in 2021 Jane Claridge, brought her extensive experience in Arts and Theatre to the Board.
Following a restructuring in 2021, Shaun Crowley was appointed Managing Director and stepped down from the Board of Trustees. Vicky Russ resigned in 2022 and Jane Claridge stepped down in 2024. Each played a crucial role in developing BLL. The Board currently has 6 Trustees and is chaired by Lee Johnson, who is also General Manager of the Corn Hall in Diss and has a wealth of Theatre and Leisure experience. BLL also has a Board Observer who attends Board meetings, but does not have a vote.
Having been a part of BLL and an active member of the Lido’s operation since 2009 (and our campaign to save it before then), Maureen Saunders retired from the Board in January 2025 (but continues to volunteer at the Hall). It is impossible to overestimate the contribution that Maureen has made to our success, for which we extend our huge thanks.
In the future, BLL’s charitable objects allow it to acquire and manage other carefully selected leisure assets in Beccles and the surrounding area, if the opportunity reasonably arises and the Board considers it prudent to do so.
BLL is very much a community run organisation and the Lido and the Hall are very much community facilities. The Trustees are local volunteers. Volunteers have undertaken and will continue to be encouraged to be actively involved in the repairs, maintenance and development of the Lido and the Hall. BLL employs a small number of salaried staff in management and other key positions; the Lido and Lido café seasonally employ suitably qualified lifeguards and catering staff, offering paid work experience to local students; Big Dog Ferry employs trained skippers. Otherwise the Lido and the Hall are both staffed where practicable by volunteers.
BLL hopes that it can help and inspire similar projects both locally and nationwide, and is in close communication with various other groups, including those seeking to save, or who have already saved and now run, their local open air swimming pools and community theatres and arts venues.