In association with the RLSS UK, the drowning prevention charity, Plas Menai National Outdoor Centre ran its first National Water Safety Management Programme (NWSMP) this month (December 1 and 2). The course was a huge success with students and instructors having a great time sharing experiences and knowledge on water safety.

The National Water Safety Management Programme (NWSMP) is designed to equip anyone working in, on or near water with essential knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about managing group safety.

The NWSMP is as relevant to a school teacher as it is to a member of the emergency services, countryside ranger, construction worker or outdoor pursuits instructor. The programme has been developed with a number of key lead bodies including, The Health and Safety Executive and Institute for Outdoor Learning.

Not only will group leaders develop skills and knowledge around water safety but they will also be able to share valuable knowledge with students and pupils helping to keep them safe long after their field trip or expedition has finished.

On average there are between 450 – 600 drowning fatalities in the UK every year and inland waters account for 63 per cent of these deaths. With some basic information and a few simple skills, we hope to equip people to better understand the water environment they work in and make safe sensible decisions about any emergency action they may take to save a life, or better still to prevent a situation arising in the first place.

Attendees at the Plas Menai course came from a wide range of organisations, including Gwynedd Council.

RLSS UK’s Head of Water Safety Management, Cliff Nelson, said: “The two days of training were a huge success with attendees now equipped to manage group activities around water. It is great to be working with Plas Menai, which leads the way in outdoor training in the area. Plas Menai is working towards becoming an accredited training centre for RLSS UK and hoping to promote the NWSMP course across a wide range of sectors which is great news!”

If you or your team would like more information on water safety courses at Plas Menai please contact Hope Filby 01248 670 964 [email protected]

Further Info:

Plas Menai is the National Outdoor Centre for Wales, offering outdoor activities, sailing courses, powerboating, windsurfing, kayaking and much more… We also run a busy programme of outdoor activities for schools, groups, adults, children and the local community. www.plasmenai.co.uk

The Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) is the drowning prevention charity and the UK’s leading provider of water safety and drowning prevention education.

Around 400 people needlessly die from drowning in the UK every year and thousands more suffer injury, some life-changing, through near-drowning experiences. Putting these figures into context one person dies every 20 hours in the UK and drowning is the third highest cause of accidental death of children in the UK. Add to this the fact that around 75 UK citizens drown in foreign waters every year – we have a huge challenge facing us to help save lives and reduce the number of UK citizens drowning. www.watersafetymanagement.org.uk/aims.php