Two charities have teamed up to offer swimming lessons to youngsters who missed out due to the pandemic.

Everybody Health & Leisure and the Rotary Club are working together deliver a new summer pilot programme designed to teach essential swimming and lifesaving skills to 24 local young people.

The initiative aims to address the lasting impact of lockdown restrictions, which prevented many children from accessing swimming lessons, school-based water safety education and confidence-building experiences in and around water.

Neil Ruff at Everybody Health & Leisure said: "Being able to swim is a vital life skill, yet we know that many young people were unable to access lessons during the COVID years.

"This partnership with Rotary allows us to reach young people who may otherwise have missed out and provide them with high-quality instruction from experienced professionals.

"We are proud to support this initiative and help create safer, healthier communities."

Members of Congleton Rotary Club noticed a pattern of swimming-related tragedies during the recent hot weather, with children around the age of 15 involved in several of the incidents.

Club president Simon Fallis engaged with several local agencies and youth groups, the two Congleton senior schools and the MP for Congleton, Sarah Russell.

After gaining their support, he approached independent charity Everybody Health & Leisure, operator of 18 leisure facilities in Cheshire East including Congleton Leisure Centre, who offered a course of five one-hour sessions for up to 24 swimmers.

The pilot will provide young people with the opportunity to develop practical skills that will enable them to enjoy water-based activities with confidence.

Simon said: "Our Rotary Club was bowled over by the enthusiastic response from everyone concerned and particularly, I would like to thank Everybody Health and Leisure for their generous offer in providing a pilot scheme for 14–16–year–old non-swimmers.

"If the pilot is successful and is oversubscribed, the Rotary Club, together with other interested parties, will negotiate to run further courses.

"Our Member of Parliament has expressed her support, and we are thrilled to hope that we can do something to prevent future tragedies with a programme of swimming and water safety lessons."

Mrs Russell added: "Every young person should have the chance to learn to swim. This excellent initiative by Everybody Leisure, Congleton Rotary, New Life Church and the high schools could quite literally save lives.

"Water safety theory is important, and the Government is introducing this from September, but confidence and competence in the water can only come through practical experience.

"I hope this pilot is the first step towards ensuring that no teenager in the Congleton constituency misses out on this essential life skill."

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