Dorchester Sports Centre backs national Drowning Prevention Week campaign

From the 19th – 26th June Dorchester Sports Centre, is backing the national ‘Drowning Prevention Week’ campaign by including specific activities and content within all of its swim lessons and urging parents to make sure their children know how to stay safe and enjoy the water this summer.

Throughout the week every child that attends learn to swim lessons at Dorchester Sports Centre will take part in a range of water safe activities. These will include cold water shock activities, float tunnels to create wave swimming, current simulation. Plus the HELP Position (Heat Escape Lessening Position), which helps people keep warm if stuck in the water and have a buoyancy aid

Figures indicate that around 25 per cent of primary pupils leave school unable to swim, and experts fear that the enforced pool closures during the pandemic over the last year will leave many young people lacking the ability to swim or self-rescue.

The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK), fears that with lockdown restrictions lifting, families will flock to beaches and inland water locations this summer without considering the potential dangers, putting themselves and others at risk.

1610 is supporting RLSS UK’s national Drowning Prevention Week campaign, this year running from 19-26 June 2021, which aims to ensure everyone knows how to have fun and stay safe near water.

Drowning Prevention Week aims to equip everybody across the UK and Ireland with the skills and knowledge, to make the right decisions about water safety. Over 400 people accidentally drown in the UK and Ireland every year and many more suffer injury, sometimes life-changing, when they survive near-drowning.

Ricky Hayes Head of Aquatics and Operations from 1610 said: “We are proud to play our part in ensuring our families and local communities have a safe summer. We recognise how vitally important it is for children to know how to stay safe near water, and so want to include some fun activities within our lessons to simulate what it can be like to swim in open water. We also urge our parents to access RLSS UK’s free water safety resources on the Charity’s website.

“The Drowning Prevention Week campaign is crucial this year. Throughout 2020 and 2021, young people have missed out on the vital opportunity to swim, leaving a dramatic gap in swim lessons, school swimming and water safety education. In communities where participation in swimming and water safety activities is already traditionally low, this worrying gap in knowledge and skills, exacerbated by COVID-19, is even bigger.

The Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Charity Director Lee Heard, said: “The UK’s beautiful waterways should be places where everyone feels at ease, and can take pleasure from their surroundings, whatever their age, whatever their activity level. But we’re urging people to educate themselves on how to enjoy water safely, and prevent a fun day out ending in tragedy.

“RLSS UK believes that through free, accessible education and training, everyone can enjoy water safely. We urge as many parents as possible to get involved with the campaign, use our free online resources, and give their children the skills to enjoy a lifetime of fun in the water.”

For more information on Dorchester Sports Centre swim lessons visit https://www.1610.org.uk/all-activities/swimming-lessons/

Visit www.rlss.org.uk to access the Charity’s free water safety resources.

Ends

Notes for Editors: 1610 is a non-profit making leisure trust which manages 10 leisure facilities across Somerset, Devon and Dorset. 1610 aims to help people live fuller, richer lives through having an active body and an active mind.

For more information about 1610 or if you require further information associated with this press release contact Rebecca Sawtell rsawtell@1610.org.uk or on 07808767468

June 2021