Kids learn water safety skills ahead of summer

With the warm weather here Perth’s many rivers, lakes, pools and beaches will be popular places for people to spend time with their friends and family. This can also be a very dangerous time for those who haven’t had an opportunity to learn vital swimming and water safety skills.

For those born here it’s hard to believe that people arriving from overseas can get well into their primary school years, even teenage years or adulthood without ever having the opportunity to learn to swim. Sadly this can have tragic consequences, and research shows that of the drowning deaths that occurred in WA over the past 10 years, 40% involved people who were born overseas, the largest proportion of any state or territory.

In order to address this Royal Life Saving WA, with funding from Lotterywest and BHP, is partnering with the Edmund Rice Centre to enable 56 young people from Aboriginal and multicultural backgrounds to take part in swimming lessons at Leisurepark Balga and Swan Active Midland this term.

The Edmund Rice Centre engages with Aboriginal and multicultural communities to encourage them to take part in sport and recreation activities, and provides opportunities to break down the barriers to participation. Royal Life Saving WA has partnered with Edmund Rice to provide these programs for three years now, and they are always very popular with local families.

The program is being held on Thursday afternoons at Midland and Saturday afternoons at Balga. We look forward to seeing how the children’s swimming skills develop over the coming weeks.

You can find out more about how Royal Life Saving WA is working to provide swimming and water safety skills for at-risk children at the link below.