Published 1 July 2020

June in Numbers

• 7 pieces of bespoke guidance to support activity to restart
• 10 Webinars delivered
• 150,000 completed online learning modules
• 58 million reach for Drowning Prevention Week through press
• 2 NEW strategic partners secured
• Supported the industry as guests on 8 webinars

June proved to be another busy month for the RLSS UK team, with the focus of our support very much directed towards preparing for the re-opening of venues, attractions and sites. This month has been specifically dominated by the opportunity to support operators, trainers, teachers and clubs to prepare to restart their activities. For families and the general public, we continued our Drowning Prevention Week Campaign to educate and spread messages about how to enjoy water, safely, the dangers that are posed by water, how to avoid getting into trouble, and what do if the worst happens and you find yourself in danger.    

Below is a review of much of the work that we completed in June that you can take advantage of:

Guidance

At the start of June, we had already published the first of our Guidance documents:

• Guidance for Swimming Pool Operators Managing Lifeguards during COVID-19
• Guidance for Open Water Swimming Operators Managing Lifeguards during COVID-19

Throughout June, we continued to work with numerous experts and other industry specialists to publish the remaining Guidance documents:

• Guidance for Delivering RLSS UK Training and Assessments during COVID-19
• Guidance for Beach Operators Managing Lifeguards during COVID-19
• Guidance for Aqua Park Operators Managing Lifeguards during COVID-19
• Draft Guidance for Operating a Lifesaving Club during COVID-19
• Guidance for Swimming Teachers Providing Safety Cover for Swimming Lessons during COVID-19

 All the Guidance documents are available on our website by clicking here and are updated as and when the situation alters, so please check back regularly to ensure that you are referring to the most recent version of the publications. 

Webinars

To provide additional support the guidance was complemented by a series of free webinars delivered in June by RLSS UK staff, give Training Centres, Trainer Assessors, Instructors and Members the chance to learn about the guidance and ask any questions.

We were thrilled to support Ian Ogilvie and host a number of industry webinars he has created to support the industry on a wide range of topics, from pool plant to health and safety.

If you missed any webinars,  each one can be found by clicking here. 

RLSS UK staff also supported Swim Nation’s webinars, with Jo Talbot making a guest appearance on Scottish Swimming, Swim England and Swim Wales’ webinars and Helen Bowker and Andrea Roberts speaking on the Swim Ireland webinar.  Not forgetting the guest appearances RLSS UK staff made on other organisations’ webinars, including Waterbabies.

Remote Training

We have been overwhelmed by the initiative of trainers, clubs and instructors to get online and continue to deliver training. It shows our members’ tenacity to continue to educate and train. Find out more about remote learning click here and keep an eye on our social media channels for opportunities and case studies.

Online Learning

During June, we continued to offer three series of free, online training, which were aimed at qualification holders and families.

The NPLQ online learning continued to be available, and we saw an additional 40,000 modules being completed taking the overall number completed up to 140,000 CPD modules by over 19,500 people. This will remain as a free resource until the end of September 2020, thereafter, it will become a benefit of our NEW Lifeguard Membership.

There was also the launch of five additional online learning modules for beach lifeguards and NVBLQ holders, which have been developed in partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI). Over 1,500 qualification holders have now completed at least one module of this training.

The Water Safety Toolkit for families, Lifesaver-Lifechanger, has also been extensively accessed throughout the month with 15,000 modules completed by over 4,000 families.

All these online courses are accessed via your RLSS UK tahdah account. If you are yet to register, simply click here and enter your Society Number.

Qualifications

Following negotiations with the regulators, in early June it was confirmed that all RLSS UK and IQL UK regulated and non-regulated qualifications that expired between 16/03/2020 – 30/09/2020, would be extended to expire on the 30/09/2020. More information about this can be found by clicking here.

Drowning Prevention Week

This year’s Drowning Prevention Week (#DPW) went ahead as planned from the 12 through to 19 June inclusive. Due to current circumstances, leisure centres and swimming pools remaining closed and many pupils not at school, we had to be creative and discover new ways to engage and educate the public, members and wider communities. The campaign remained focused around resources for leisure venues, parents/guardians and schools, however, these could all be accessed and completed at home. This year we specifically launch a DPW primary School Lesson which to date has educated over 1200 children.

We also created a suite of social media graphics for people to share, and a communication plan of messages and videos distributed via RLSS UK social channels, including collaborations and contributions from partners and water safety experts including; the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the University of Portsmouth’s Mike Tipton.  

The objective with the social media graphics was to achieve 700 shares, reposts or posted images, to represent the approximate number of individuals that lose their life to drowning across the UK and Ireland, each, and every year. There was also an added incentive from one of our Water Safety Partners, Red Paddle Co and Red Rescue, who kindly donated a Red Original Waistbelt PFD and a Pro Change Jacket.

We were really pleased with the profile the campaign achieved, especially through the help of members and supporters. We are delighted to inform you that over 20,000 online water safety lessons were accessed, there were over 2,000 shares on social media, #DPW was covered 184 times in newspapers, TV, radio and online, reaching nearly 58 million through the press. Lee Heard, RLSS UK’s Charity Director, also made an appearance of Water Babies’ Instagram Live, talking to their Director of Aquatics, Hannah Smith about changes that can be made this summer to prevent any accidents from happening.

We hope that this has gone a long way in educating people on water safety and that more are aware of lifesaving skills that will save lives.

Thank you to everyone who got involved with this campaign and shared our messages. We really appreciated your support.

Strategic Partners

To continue our mission to help every community to enjoy the water safely, we also welcomed two new Strategic Partners to the RLSS UK family, the Black Swimming Association and Child Bereavement UK. Both these partnerships will help us to reach more communities and to provide holistic support to those that have been devasting by drowning. You can find out more about the important work of both these organisations and our other Strategic Partners by clicking here.

RLSS Direct

RLSS Direct continued to remain open during this period, and also expanded the range of products available to satisfy the demands from venues, attractions and sites as they re-open. This included a COVID Essentials range of PPE, First Aid Equipment, Wipes and Sanitizers and Signs and Screens that can be found by clicking here. 

If there are any products that you presently can’t find on RLSS Direct but would like us to stock, we are keen to hear from you. Simply email [email protected] and we’ll do our utmost to see if we can source what you need at competitive prices.

Members

In addition to the support already outlined for our members, we also continued to negotiate good discounts. These included a HUGE saving of up to £120.00 on the Adult Ruth Lee Pool Rescue Manikin - click here to take advantage of the offer - and a reduced price from Active IQ for the Level 3 in Education and Training (AET).

Branches and Clubs

June started with Volunteers’ Week, which was a great reminder of the essential work that our volunteers at Clubs and Branches do every year. We are fully aware that our mission to help everybody to enjoy water, safely would not be possible without the dedication of our volunteers, so once again, thank you.  

The main priority for Clubs this month was to create the draft Guidance for Operating a Lifesaving Club during COVID-19 document. We also hosted a supporting webinar and continued to maintain our communications with Branches and Clubs via eNewsletters, our social media presence and a Club survey.

For the Future

As we look forward to venues, attractions, and sites hopefully re-opening, in the not too distant future, we remain committed to supporting you. We have a number of projects to launch in July that we believe you will appreciate and will be of benefit to the whole industry, so we are excited to be announcing these soon. Please keep an eye on our social media to be one of the first to find out more!

For now

Our strategy of furloughing 70% of our workforce remains, bringing back individuals with a specific specialism as and when their dedicated expertise is needed. We believe that this is the best way we can support you, so please get in contact for support.  

For you

Our goal is to continue to help you through this time of uncertainty and ensure we provide: support; guidance; electronic resources; products; and development opportunities; so that when the time comes, you can get back doing what you love, in the knowledge that you are prepared and well-equipped.

Thank you to all those that have engaged with us during June. We continue to enjoy the interactions and supporting you at this time. Stay Safe.