Increasing Water Safety Awareness Across Stockton-on-Tees
An average of 307 UK and Irish Citizens lose their life to accidental drowning EVERY YEAR and many more have non-fatal experiences, sometimes suffering life-changing injuries. At Tees Active we work alongside Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) to educate and engage with people to enjoy water safely, to keep their families and friends safe and to know what to do in an emergency.
Following last years campaign we have relaunched our Water Safety Initiative to coincide with National Drowning Prevention week which runs from 15th – 22nd June. As well as Tees Active’s Water Safety Roadshow where we will be visiting schools across the borough throughout the week, we have created a digital teaching pack that includes a number of age appropriate resources (key stage 2) to help equip children with the necessary skills and knowledge to act if they find themselves, or someone they know, in difficulty in water.
Middlesbrough-born Olympian, and Tees Active’s Learn to Swim Ambassador, Aimee Willmott is once again supporting the initiative. Aimee said: “Swimming has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I know the joy and health benefits that being in the water can bring. However, I’m also acutely aware of the dangers of swimming unsupervised in open water, so I applaud Tees Active for taking this creative and proactive approach aimed at saving lives.”
As well as the River Tees winding its way through the borough, Stockton-on-Tees also has more than 30 publicly accessible lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and large water-filled ditches – and it is alarming to hear that more than 300 people per year drown in the UK, with 47 percent of accidental drownings occurring between May and August, and 59 percent at inland water sites.
The free resources below can be downloaded and shared far and wide to raise awareness and take action to help prevent as many drownings as possible. We would appreciate your feedback via the short survey below to help us make improvements in the future.
