Children aged between seven and fourteen will learn vital sea survival skills as the Swim Safe programme returns to Scarborough's North Bay.
Free open water safety sessions will equip young people with life-saving survival skills in Scarborough this August.
The Swim Safe programme provides practical advice for staying safe in the sea, lakes, and rivers. The Andrew McGeown Legacy Fund funds, organises, and delivers the initiative. Friends and family set up the fund following the tragic drowning of Andrew McGeown in 2015.
Donna Loveland BEM explained the deeply personal motivation behind bringing the programme to the Yorkshire Coast:
"As a family, we had a relative that drowned and I always wanted something to come out of Andrew's accident to be positive and I feel by doing the SwimSafe, it's giving something back to our whole community.
We teach them right from the beginning the beach rules, a lifeguard will give an educational talk, what the flags mean, who you should call if you got into trouble, what you should do if you saw somebody in trouble.
It's things like learning how to float, because they may have learned sort of some aspects of it at swimming, but it's completely different if you were like in a lake or river or the sea. So we then go out into the sea, out of their depth and put everything into practice so they have a real understanding of how to use what they've learned."
Recent warm weather has highlighted the dangers of open water, making these educational sessions particularly timely for young swimmers who may only be used to indoor pools.
Donna Loveland said the transition from a swimming pool to open water can catch children off guard:
"We've had a number of drownings just in a short period of time while the weather's been really warm and I think specifically because kids obviously learn to swim in a swimming pool and then when they go to visit the beach or a lake or anything like that they're totally unaware of the surroundings. So by doing the swim safe, it gives them that educational aspect of what it's like and how the environment can change.
We start on the 3rd of August running till the 12th of August. They're completely free to children that are aged between seven and 14 years that can swim 25m.
The sessions give children free water safety advice for staying safe in open water."
The daily sessions will run at Scarborough's North Bay. Participants must be able to swim twenty-five metres to take part in the free training.
Donna Loveland outlined how families can secure a spot for the upcoming sessions:
"We start on the 3rd of August and it's Monday to Friday and the sessions start at 11:00 on the morning and they run hourly till 3:00.
And basically you can either go on to the Swim Safe website and pick Scarborough as the location and book your how many sessions you'd like or you can just come down to North Bay. We're just in front of the management centre, which is where the lifeguards are and the toilets. You'll see a big blue gazebo and our last session will be on Wednesday the 12th of August.
So even if you don't have kids and you've got grandkids or anybody with kids, if they can just share it so we can try and fill as many spaces as possible because we still got a few that are left."
The continuation of the vital safety programme relies heavily on backing from residents across the region.
Donna Loveland praised the ongoing generosity of the public:
"When when it comes to the fundraising, we try to do a lot ourselves, but we wouldn't be able to do it obviously without the support of like local community, that help us fund raise all year round.
So it's much appreciated that they can keep helping us go."
There are more details about the Swim Safe sessions in Scarborough at https://swimsafe.org.uk/locations/scarborough
Scarborough Hospital Faces Unprecedented Pressure Amid Hot Weather And Summer Visitors
Residents React To ‘Never Before Seen’ Pressure On Scarborough Hospital
Coastal Tourism And Business Contracts Boost East Yorkshire Economy By Millions
Community Grants Up To £1,000 Available For Scarborough And Whitby Projects
Walk-In Support Hub For Bridlington Residents Launches This August
New Road Signs Warn Visitors About Extreme Wildfire Risks Across North Yorkshire
Gull-Proof Bins and Street Washing Plan for North Yorkshire Coast
Woman Dies In Fatal Collision On The A170 Near Pickering
Scarborough Councillors Clash Over 'Inability' to Deliver a Beach Toy Station
Bridlington Station Blooms With Avocados And Lemons As Customer Service Assistant Transforms Platforms
Yorkshire Coast MP and Trade Union Call on Coastguard Boss to Consider Position After 'Debacle'
Stunning Astrophotography Greets Stargazers At Free Scarborough Exhibition
