Free swim safe lessons for Yorkshire Coast children returns with success
A scheme designed to keep 7 to 14-year-olds safe in the sea is back
Lessons to teach children how to stay safe in the sea have returned to the Yorkshire Coast.
'Swim Safe' is aimed at 7 to 14 year-olds and is carried out by RNLI Lifeguards.
In Scarborough and Bridlington they are put on by the Andrew McGeown Legacy Fund after he died in the sea five years ago
Sister Donna Loveland is its Chair and said: "It's not just locals that we're seeing on the beach. We've got a lot of people that are staying in Scarborough or have come to Scarborough for the day so a lot of people are amazed they've never seen this kind of thing before. We've had a really, really good uptake on it.
"Some children of all different ages are really quite worried about doing it because they've never even been in the sea before. Mainly it's those children that when they come out, they're so proud and happy of themselves that they've done it. The parents are so pleased, they're like 'oh yeah, this is brilliant.' I've learnt so much nevermind the child.
"We will teach them how to stay safe on the beach, what flags to look out for, making sure that you always stay with a responsible adult that you've come to the beach with, learning to float, shouting for help and they then go off into the sea to put what they've just learnt into practice.
"It's coming obviously from a family where delivering this that it's happened to. It's heartbreaking really to think and that's why it's so, so important that we're educating this generation because they're the ones that on hot days think that it's maybe safe to go in a river."
The sessions move to Bridlington on Monday (16th August) and it is free to take part.
You can book a place online here: https://swimsafe.org.uk/locations/bridlington