Littlehampton life saving club hold awards evening

The club, founded in 2019, is a registered life saving club affiliated to The Royal Lifesaving Society UK which trains in the Littlehampton Wave leisure centre.

It provides personal survival skills, lifesaving, water safety and life support tuition all to an examination standard, with exams taking place in the sea, the lake, and the pool.

The mayor presented club members Sophia Hendey, Olivia Kidd, Jude Morris, and chief instructor David Slade, with the distinction medals and certificates that had been earned since the club was established.

The distinction award is the culmination of around nine different exams at bronze, silver and gold levels taken at The Wave pool, Southwater Lake, and at Littlehampton, Lancing and Shoreham Harbour beaches as well as additional tests for life support, resuscitation and first aid.

The members were also presented with four junior resuscitation training manikins which had been bought with a grant from Littlehampton Town Council.

David Slade, 76, chief instructor at the club said: “We live by the seaside and on average, there is probably about 650 people that drown a year in this country, about 400 or so are in land so rivers, lakes, ponds, swimming pools.

“Anything we can do to encourage youngsters to be water safety aware, how not to get themselves in difficulty and how to save someone else from difficulty without putting themselves in danger, is very important.”

The club is looking for new members. Find more information on its website.