Newcastle Leisure Centre's work together to promote Drowning Prevention Week

Drowning Prevention Week (DPW) is a major annual water safety campaign run by the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS). In 2026, it took place from Saturday 13th June to Saturday 20th June. The scheduling of DPW is aimed to take place just before the summer holidays where hot weather brings an increase in open water activity across the UK and in particular the North East Region. 

We feel this campaign is extra neccessary to support being operating from the North East as all residents have quick and easy access to the sea side, rivers and even lakes. Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) is the leisure provider operating the leisure centre's across Newcastle and to support DPW, we teamed up with the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS), who already play an important role in spreading the message of water safety across our region. 

TWFRS attended East End Pool on Saturday 13 June and then Gosforth Leisure Centre on Sunday 14 June promoting water safety to any users of the facility. The sessions were very informative using a range of methods to provide information to users of all ages and backgrounds. The sessions included a water demo unit which showed the real life impact of being in water with a current, a giant throw bag target so users could practice using throw bags (which are provided along the North East coastline), and an education throwline board which is a real example of an information board that is readily available to use when near open water in the North East. 

Our Swim School participants also had all their lessons focused on water safety clothing in the water and learning key skills to keep everyone safe. These lessons have been provided to over 1600 swim school pupils in Newcastle alone. 

A huge thank you to all the teams on promoting this important message, taking part in sessions providing key skills, and finally a special thank you to TWRFS for the positive collaberation.