Community sauna planned for Ruskin Park

Community Sauna Baths are working together with Lambeth Council to bring a community sauna to the old depot space in Ruskin Park, opening around April next year.

Community Sauna Baths is a not-for-profit that launched in 2021, currently operating in Hackney, Stratford, Bermondsey and Peckham. Their vision is “to make communal sauna bathing and the associated health, wellbeing and recreational benefits accessible to all”. It does this by offering low entry fees, concessionary rates and free sessions for those who can’t afford it. The sauna is socially prescribed through NHS trusts and offers free sessions to NHS workers.

They also offer traditional sauna rituals such as German Aufguss or Finnish leaf-whisking as well as events such as storytelling, sound baths and life drawing.

Plans for the sauna include investments to the depot area such as reconnecting the water supply (which will be made available for the pond, drinking fountain and flower beds elsewhere in the park), upgrading the electrics and improving the appearance of the fencing with additional planting and ongoing maintenance. 

For more infomation, take a look at their current sites here or email camberwell@community-sauna.co.uk.

More information about Community Sauna Baths:

As our name suggests, community is genuinely at the heart of what we do. As a Community Interest Company (CIC) and not-for-profit, Community Sauna Baths are dedicated to making the benefits of sauna accessible to all. We aim to achieve this not only by being affordable but by situating ourselves within communities and in easy reach of residents. We pride ourselves on our relationships with our local neighbourhoods and our efforts to embed ourselves within local communities. 

We are focused on having a positive impact and do not want to take away from the calm and peaceful nature of the area. We have spent considerable time planning how we will approach any activities taking place at the Ruskin Park site and have taken into account the potential impact it may have on the park users and have put mitigating measures into place to ensure it doesn’t. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns or queries about this.

We hope the Ruskin Park sauna will be a positive amenity and we are really excited about the prospect of widening access to the benefits of sauna and cold water bathing through this partnership with the Lambeth Parks team. We hope this will be a space that the local community can come to and feel at home in.