Stockton-on-Tees Primary Schools Welcome the Return of Water Safety Roadshows

Tees Active have relaunched their water safety roadshows initiative to coincide with National Drowning Prevention week which runs from 13th – 20th June 2026 in a bid to reduce the number of accidents and drowning incidents across the North East and beyond.

Drowning Prevention Week is a national campaign that takes place each June to raise awareness of the dangers around water and to provide crucial water safety advice just before the summer holidays when young people are outdoors more and need these skills and knowledge most.

Delivered by Tees Active’s Aquatics Team, the Water Safety Roadshows now in its 4^th year will be visiting 20 schools within the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees providing 40 free sessions across a 2 week period. The sessions provided are fun and interactive to help children understand the risks associated with open water. Through engaging activities and games as well as learning the basics of CPR, pupils learn how to stay safe and what to do if they find themselves or someone else in difficulty.

National figures from Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) continue to show that on average more than 300 people across the UK and Ireland lose their lives to accidental drowning each year, with many more experiencing non-fatal incidents that can have life-changing consequences. Tees Active continues to work in partnership with the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) to raise awareness and promote safe enjoyment of water.

With the River Tees running through the Borough and more than 30 publicly accessible bodies of water locally, the campaign highlights a simple but important message: the safest place to swim is in a supervised pool with trained lifeguards.

Tees Active’s Aquatics Manager, Helen Eyeington said: “Educating young people about water safety is incredibly important, particularly in an area like ours where there are so many open water environments. These sessions are designed to be fun and engaging, but they also deliver lifesaving messages that children can remember and share with their families.”

Oxbridge Primary School Teacher, Hannah Young said “The children really enjoyed the Water Safety Roadshow. They were delivered in an interactive way that kept the children engaged throughout. It’s a great way to bring important water safety messages to life which is something that isn’t always easy to teach in the classroom and it and helps ensure those lessons stay with them long after the session.”

Tees Active Managing Director, Leon Jones, said: “We’re really pleased to see our Water Safety Roadshows return to schools across the Borough. Our dedicated team will be engaging with approximately 1,200 children, helping them to understand the risks of open water and giving them the confidence to act in an emergency. Sadly at least 17 people have died across the UK after getting into trouble in open water during the recent heatwave, so it is vital that we continue to help educating children from an early age to help ensure more people enjoy water responsibly and ultimately prevent accidents and drowning incidents in the future.”