DPW 2024 Success!

2023 marked RLSS UK’s tenth year of Drowning Prevention Week (DPW) – so for 2024, we set our intentions to enter our second decade of DPW on a high!

With your support, our free resources were used to educate an estimated 1.25 million+ children this year, equipping them with vital skills and knowledge to enjoy water safely over the summer. 

We kicked off the campaign early with a colouring-in competition which showcased our new designs and offered children the chance to win one of 100 limited-edition pin badges. ‘Colour in to Win’ was a great success and helped us to engage with families and youth groups ahead of Drowning Prevention Week, so thank you to everyone who took part – we loved seeing your pictures! 

On social media, we asked for your help to share the Water Safety Code with as many people as possible – and you certainly delivered! Our launch post was shared 1,463 times on Facebook alone and achieved a reach of over 945,000 people across Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, underpinning the whole campaign. Across the week, shares, likes and comments on social media increased by over 80%. By sharing and reacting to our posts, you enabled us to reach new audiences that may not have otherwise known the importance of water safety, so thank you. 

Social media content from influencers including The Reluctant Explorers, Coleen Mensa and Emily Steele (aka Gladiators ‘Dynamite’!)  

 

For Joe and Sunnah

On behalf of everyone at RLSS UK, we’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Ness Abbess and Steph Williams who collaborated with us to bravely tell the stories of the day they tragically lost their children, 17-year-old Joe and 12-year-old Sunnah, to drowning. The video shows the devastating impact of drowning and has been watched over 200,000 times since its launch during DPW. Thank you both.

Thank YOU!

Arguably one of the biggest highlights of a fantastic Drowning Prevention Week 2024 was the unprecedented response from you – our valued clubs, branches, volunteers and partners. We were blown away by the quality and quantity of content you shared with us. We know many of you were also out and about hosting events and speaking to members of the public during the week, as well as fundraising. We are forever grateful to you all for consistently supporting DPW each year.  

We also saw a fantastic level of engagement within schools this year with children in primary, secondary and SEND settings learning about water safety – and our school resources helped educate approximately 475,000+ children in schools.  

Not only this but the leisure sector amplified their support this year and we saw so many incredible sessions taking place within leisure centres, educating around 780,000+ children – amazing! We would like to say a huge thank you to every one of you for making such a difference. Special shout outs go to SERCO, Freedom Leisure, Fusion Lifestyle, GLL, Parkwood and Everyone Active for outstanding efforts this year. 

Did you know?  

Drowning Prevention Week 2024 was featured in 275 news articles and broadcasts including the BBC, ITV and Sky! 

2025 is already in train!

We want to say a huge thank you for once again supporting Drowning Prevention Week and for ensuring even more families and young people have the knowledge they need to stay safe in and around water. The video below shows just a fraction of the amazing 2024 campaign...

Remember, water safety education never stops and it’s time to get planning for 2025 - Save the dates of 14 - 21 June 2025!