A number of activities and events will be staged at Better Leisure Centres across the city ahead of the school summer holidays. Stef Enslin (GLL Area Swim Manager) and Abbygail Greaves (Swimming Teacher) will be attending Westfield Primary Community School, Woodthorpe Primary School and Hob Moor Community Primary Academy in York to deliver water safety talks to up to 400 year five and six pupils.
The sessions will focus on understanding the dangers of being in and around water and the potential hazards, learning how to help someone in danger and knowing what to do if they find themselves in danger. By instilling water safety awareness, children can develop a lifelong understanding of the importance of safety precautions. This knowledge empowers youngsters to make informed choices, enabling them to have enjoyable experiences while minimising the risks associated with water-related activities.
For adults, a water safety session will run at Energise Leisure Centre on Thursday 19th June between 2.45 and 3.30pm, with Swim Teacher, Janette Richardson. This workshop is open to members and non-members and can be booked in centre or via the BETTER app. This session will cover the water safety code including what they should do if they find themselves in danger and basic water safety skills such as, floatation, treading water and safe entries.
From June 9th Better leisure centres in York will dedicate two weeks to water safety for those who attend the junior swimming lessons. Swimmers will learn about the water safety code, undertake basic rescues and develop water safety skills.
For new members, there is a promotional offer of 50% off the first payment when people sign up to swimming lesson membership with the code SUMMER50. This includes, junior lessons, SEND lessons, adult and child lessons. The offer is valid until 31st July.
Stef Enslin, GLL Area Swim Manager for York, said: “Children are often drawn to open water, particularly during the summer months, so we’re delighted to support RLSS UK to help inform as many young people as possible about the potential dangers. Our focus centres on making learning about water safety easy and fun, imparting essential life skills in an engaging way.
“We believe it is crucial for everyone to be able to swim, and we will continue to educate our customers about how to be safe near water. Under-estimating the unpredictability of water can have tragic consequences, even for strong swimmers. Children are at the highest risk of accidental drowning, but regardless of age, knowing the basics of water survival could save your life or allow you to aid in saving someone else’s life.
“The key to staying safe is making the right choices to avoid getting into difficulty in the first place.”
The initiative by the Royal Life Saving Society UK forms one of the biggest summer water safety campaigns designed to cut down the hundreds of deaths caused by accidental drowning across the UK every year. Drowning Prevention Week targets families, carers, teachers and instructors of children aged five to fifteen years old with the aim of educating them about water safety, raising awareness and encouraging the public to enjoy water safely.
As the UK’s largest provider of swimming lessons, GLL helps over 200,000 people every week learn to love the water, stay active, and become confident, capable swimmers.
GLL operates three pools in the city including Energise Leisure Centre, Yearsley Swimming Pool and York Leisure Centre and the dedicated Swim School Programme is designed to be both flexible and affordable.
The Swim School Programme includes:
- Dippers – 3 to 12 months
- Splashers – 13 months to 2 years
- Paddlers – 2 to 4 years
- Pre-Schoolers – 3 to 4 years
- Foundation (4 years and over) Foundation classes consist of 3 levels from complete beginners. By the end of this course, children will be able to swim 10 meters unaided learning the basics of all 4 swimming strokes.
- Foundation (9 years and over)
- Development (15 metres plus, under 16yrs)
Lessons run for 50 weeks of the year, with year-round enrolment and an online tool to track their progress.
GLL offers a host of other water-based sessions in York including:
- Mini water polo
- Rookie lifesaving
- Private 1-2-1 swimming lesson
- Adult swimming lessons (beginner, intermediate and advanced)
- SEND / disability swimming lessons.
- Free access to family and lane swimming sessions with swim memberships.
For further information, please visit www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/york