The historic Moseley Road Baths have secured full funding for a landmark Phase 2 restoration following a £9.27m National Lottery Heritage Fund grant.

The award completes a £16m funding package to restore the venue’s iconic Gala pool, create a new community health and wellbeing hub, and reopen Birmingham’s Grade II*-listed Edwardian baths to a new generation.

Phase 2 will follow directly on from Phase 1 works, which commenced in September 2025 and are focused on restoration of the roofs and making the buildings watertight, basement repairs, alongside the full restoration of Balsall Heath Library – including the addition of a new mezzanine level.

Alongside the Phase 2 capital works, the project will deliver a creative programme of public engagement. Hard hat tours, activities and events will run across Balsall Heath and the Library throughout construction and in the lead-up to the Baths’ reopening (currently anticipated to be in late 2028), alongside employment and training opportunities for local people.

New accessibility features, including changing places facilities (poolside and dryside), pool hoist and pod, lift and ramp access, and wheelchair-accessible changing and viewing areas, will help to ensure Moseley Road Baths is welcoming to all.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund supported Activity Plan also includes accessible programming designed to reach diverse audiences, including SEND, LGBTQ+, women-only swims, dementia-friendly swims, para and disability swimming lessons, and sensory swimming.

Creative interpretation, onsite and online, will share the stories of Moseley Road Baths and Balsall Heath. The project will create new jobs, apprenticeships and volunteering opportunities – the first of which to go live will be recruitment for Moseley Road Baths CIO’s first ever CEO.

Phase 2 of the Moseley Road Baths restoration will deliver:

• Full restoration of the iconic Gala Pool, including a restored mezzanine gallery and a new accessible ground-floor public viewing area
• Conversion of Pool 2 into a flexible event space
• Transformation of the Women’s Slipper Baths into a community health & wellbeing hub
• Reimagining of the Men’s Second Class Slipper Baths as a community gym
• Development of the boiler room into a flexible studio space

Lucy Reid, Chair, Moseley Road Baths CIO, says: “This is a transformational moment for Moseley Road Baths, for Balsall Heath, and for our city. Securing the full Phase 2 funding package – and in particular this incredible vote of confidence from The National Lottery Heritage Fund – means that, after years of campaigning by an extraordinary community of staff, volunteers, partners and supporters, and years of hard graft to turn successful campaigning into a plan for the building with a workable business model, we can finally announce, with huge pride, that we will be restoring the magnificent Gala Pool and bringing this remarkable building fully back into public use.

“We are deeply grateful to National Lottery players, our funders, our coalition partners, a bunch of hugely committed willful individuals, and the people of Balsall Heath whose commitment and belief have enabled us to reach this milestone.”

Liz Bates, Director (England, Midlands & East), The National Lottery Heritage Fund, added: “Moseley Road Baths is one of the most outstanding historic swimming pools in the UK. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are pleased to award £9,272,950 to bring its iconic Gala Pool back into public use and create a community health and wellbeing hub at its heart. This is exactly the kind of project National Lottery players make possible — heritage that lives, breathes and serves its communities.”