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Denise Jones |
Sunny days in the Bay inspire us all to gear up for the summer months ahead with families heading to the beaches, lakes and rivers to cool off and enjoy the many fun activities available in our aquatic environments.
It's great to see so many organisations collaborating to ensure the safety of our families, by educating both adults and children on the importance of being safe while having fun in the water. Important messages are constantly being re-iterated through various channels in an effort to reduce our drowning toll.
The Water Babies initiative, funded by the Active Healthy Strong Community Partnership Fund, has taken off with mums, dads, grandparents and whanau all being involved in the fun experience. It is great to see the smiles and excitement not only on the toddlers and babies faces but also on the adults, as they take part in the aquatic lessons. Children who initially disliked even getting their faces wet are now confident to be splashed and even submerge after just a few lessons. To see the proud looks on the parents' and grandparents' faces is priceless. Lots of photographs and videos have been taken from the side-line, with wider family members getting involved.
Schools have been gearing up for the summer months and involving their students in Swim for Life lessons across the Bay through programmes supported by TECT and Go4It. Some schools do not have school pools, but the students and teachers are happy to walk for up to 30 mins to get to the facility. After taking part in their 30 minute lesson they then walk another 30 minutes back to the school. It's fantastic to see such great commitment from these schools, as the lessons include invaluable water safety skills to help them enjoy our many water ways and activities with confidence and safety in the summer months.
November Play in the Bay Water Month has had many organisations come on-board offering water activities across the Bay, including a Water Safety Day open to families to come and learn life jacket skills. It is fantastic to see children as well as parents in the water having so much fun while they learn essential survival skills.
At Sport Bay of Plenty, my role of Water Safety Advisor involves coordination and provision of swim and survive education and tuition in the region, as well as initiating, developing and managing the implementation of water safety initiatives, programmes and campaigns. It is great we're able to provide the opportunity for our Bay communities to learn swim; and offer survival skills, so they can enjoy all aspects of being in, on and under the water safely. For more information, please call me, Denise Jones, Sport Bay of Plenty - Water Safety Advisor, on 07 578 0016 Extn: 838 or email: denisej@sportbop.co.nz