One of the projects in the partnership between Speedo and the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) is a grants programme for their members from around the Commonwealth can apply for grants to support in the delivery of their water safety and drowning prevention initiatives.
To find out more about the Speedo and RLSS relations in the Commonwealth click here.
Below are updates on recent initiatives that have been supported by the member grants programme. Keep an eye on this page for future updates!
Basic Swimming and Aquatic Survival Skills Training – South Kerala, India (2018)
The RLSS member branch in India, Rashtriya Life Saving Society (India), received a grant to partner with another local charitable organisation working in the coastal region in and around the slums of Vizhinjam Fishing Harbour (South Kerala, India).
They provided the opportunity for 70 students aged between 7 and 18 years to partake in a drowning prevention programme to provide water safety classes with an emphasise on survival skills should the children ended up in the water. Most of the children participating in the programme were from fisher families who had dropped out of regular school due to the effect of poverty on their families.
The rural community of Vizhinjam is dependent on the ocean to earn a living, so many children own/rent a small boat to fish with nets to sell on the streets and earn a living, so it’s vital children from this community how to be safe around water.
All 70 students received 4 swimming classes of 4 hours per month in the local swimming pool. In their classes they were taught how to relax and overcoming their initial fear of being in the water to swimming lengths.
Overall the group of students learnt that swimming can be a fun activity and not only just for fishing or bathing in the sea
Community Lifesaving Volunteers Training Project, Cameroon (2019)
The RLSS member branch in Cameroon, Royal Life Saving Society Cameroon, held a month-long drowning prevention and water safety programme in the town and villages of Kribi which is a seaside district facing the Atlantic Ocean. In total approximately 10,000 people in the community were reached by the water safety education programme with 48 volunteers being trained to help teach water safety skills in their communities to help save more lives.
To find out more about the RLSS visit:www.rlsscommonwealth.org/
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