Times may be hard but the team behind the Chipping Norton Lido is nothing if not ambitious. Organisers behind the current holder of The Oxford Times Charity and Community Award are ignoring the credit crunch and taking the plunge by developing three projects which require fundraising.

It may seem a tall order, but its nothing compared to the gargantuan task of saving the open air swimming pool from extinction in 2004, after West Oxfordshire District Council pulled the plug on its funding.

And the battle has gone on to keep its head above water, surviving two terrible summers which have hit attendance figures.

Undeterred by all this, the efforts of what seems like the entire community of Chipping Norton continue to keep what is one of only 100 remaining open air pools in the UK not only alive but thriving.

So this year’s plan involves replacing most of the plant, including the main boiler, shower boilers and filters at a cost of up to £30,000. This is fundamental and needs to be in place for the pool re-opening in April.

Then a new ground source heating system is to be installed involving putting eight boreholes into the car park, along with solar panels on the roof, at a cost of £126,000.

And finally, a third project involves sinking another borehole to extract the pool’s own source of water, which will then be treated using ultraviolet light, cutting the chlorine and water bills.

The cost of this will come in at £20,000. All of which is very expensive for an organisation which last year generated a trading income of £41,777, slightly lower than the previous year’s total.

So will all these grand plans become reality?

A major source of income is grant funding. The Lido committee has been highly successful in this area and has raised a total of £98,500 from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme and the Community Sustainable Energy Programme towards the ground source heating system and solar panels.

Trustee Claire Jarvis admits there are a “few more hurdles to overcome” but the future savings of such a system will be a major plus.

She said: “If we can succeed in doing this then we will reduce our reliance on gas and that will have an enormous impact on the sustainability of the pool, as well as slashing our carbon footprint.”

The Lido already has about £20,000 in its reserves to fund the re-fit of the plant room and finding the rest will be “an interesting challenge.”

But the organisation has had great success with fundraising activities including a monthly lottery, a jazz evening and an auction of promises hosted by TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson.

This year it will become an Artweeks partner with an exhibition of water-related works by local people. Ms Jarvis sees winning an Oxfordshire Business Award as providing a major confidence boost for fundraising and for the organisation as a whole.

“The award has been hugely useful to us as now we are known as one of Oxfordshire’s most thriving charities. There has been a lot of positive feedback and the staff have also benefited, as they have been tremendously loyal.”

During the bad summer weather, the 20 staff at the Lido occasionally volunteered to go home unpaid which helped reduce costs.

But Ms Jarvis is convinced that the Lido will continue to prosper despite the significant challenges which lie ahead.

She added: “We are fulfilling a need here and doing that very successfully. No-one wants to see the pool close but we have to get over these short-term financial hurdles.

“There is a powerful independent spirit in Chipping Norton. People did not accept the closure of the pool and have continued to do something about it.”