Broomhill Pool campaigner Sally Wainman has been nominated in one of the categories of the Daily Mirror’s “Pride of Sport” awards to be presented later this month.

Mrs Wainman has been campaigning to get the pool re-opened since it closed in 2002, and has stood in seven elections – including two general elections – in a bid to get her message heard.

The long-running appeal seems to have finally achieved its aim with last month’s announcement that the Heritage Lottery Fund had granted first-round funding which should eventually lead to a £5.3m restoration of the pool by 2018.

Mrs Wainman said: “The campaign has been very much a team effort and a small army of people have helped to bring about the current state of play: a potential £5.3 million restoration fund.

“When we started 13 years ago we had nothing, so it is amazing and wonderful to see that the lido really does have a realistic hope of being restored and re-opened in the not too distant future.”

She said nationally there had been a revival of lidos over the last decade – and the redevelopment should tap into that.

She added: “The long campaign to save our lido has brought about a happy alignment between Ipswich Borough Council, Fusion Lifestyle, the Broomhill Pool Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund – like the gospels, all four parts are needed to give the full picture of this achievement!”