Drowning Prevention Week aims to help ensure everybody across the UK and Ireland, has the opportunity to enjoy water safely.​  

With the skills and knowledge to make the right decisions about water safety, this summer will be a time to make memories that will last a lifetime, for all the right reasons and we need your help to spread the word and share our messages as far and as wide as possible. 

The Drowning Prevention Week campaign, created by the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK), encourages parents, schools, leisure centres and communities to use its free water safety resources, to give children the skills to enjoy a lifetime of fun in the water.

This year we are offering FREE downloadable learning resources for the summer term for schools. Consisting of ‘theme week’ lesson plans and materials, the resources have been designed to bring the classroom to life whilst helping to engage young people with essential water safety lessons.

Now in its tenth year, Drowning Prevention Week 2023 is a crucial campaign that has proven to have a real impact. Due to the pandemic, close to 2 million young people missed out on the vital opportunity to swim, leaving a dramatic gap in school swimming and water safety education.  

And in communities where participation in swimming and water safety activities is already traditionally low, this worrying gap in knowledge and skills, exacerbated by the pandemic, is even bigger.  

This year, Drowning Prevention Week will aim to increase knowledge and understanding of the Water Safety Code, as well as raise awareness and increase resonance with our activities, ultimately driving more people to engage in our education. To do this we will be launching a brand new animation for 2023, we are excited to be able to share this with you soon!

We believe that through free, accessible education and training, everyone can enjoy water safely so please get involved and spread the word!

Key statistics (Royal Life Saving Society UK, March 2023)

• In the UK and Ireland drowning takes an average of 312 lives each year
• 5 in 6 UK adults (86%) are unfamiliar with the Water Safety Code and it’s aims
• Only 2% of UK adults can recall The Water Safety Code in full
• Only a third of UK adults (34%) looked for water safety signs and advice last time they were in, on or around a body of water
• 1 in 4 UK adults (27%) would enter the water to try and help a stranger who has fallen in, is having difficulty and might drown. A further 1 in 4 (25%) wouldn’t be sure whether to enter the water or not
• 1 in 4 parents in the UK (27%) haven’t or don’t remember ever discussing water safety with their child(ren)
• Only 3 in 5 parents of children aged 8+ in the UK (62%) are confident that their child could self-rescue from open water

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