25/07/2022
If you see someone struggling in the water this summer, Make the Right Call, Call 999 – Respect The Water'
The key campaign advice is:
• Call 999 – ask for Fire & Rescue if inland or the Coastguard
if by the sea
• Tell the struggling person to try to float on their back
• Throw them something that floats
That is the advice from the National Water Safety Forum (NWSF) which is today responding to the UN’s global World Drowning Prevention Day to launch the UK’s largest ever drowning prevention campaign, #RespectTheWater.
The film featured in the campaign, is being widely aired across the UK today and over the next few weeks.
The Forum’s aim is to halve by 2026 the number of people in the UK who accidentally die in the water each year.
• 277 people accidentally drowned in 2021 in UK, with 47% of these deaths in the 3 summer months; July worst month (Source: WAID)
• Significant majority - 62% - drowned inland, especially in rivers, lakes & canals
• Multiple interviewees including case studies from Nottingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne & Hastings
• Events in Wales, Scotland, Belfast, Manchester, London, Birmingham, Worcester & Gloucester
Sadly,this summer has already seen several high-profile cases of people drowning after going into water to cool off in the soaring temperatures.
277 people accidentally drowned in 2021 in the UK. Almost half of these - 130 - were in the three summer months, including 63 last July alone.
Contrary perhaps to popular imagination, most accidental drownings occur inland: 168 or 62% in 2021. With all UK schools now out for summer, rivers, lakes, canals, flooded quarries and reservoirs are set to get increasingly busy, though many are perhaps unaware of the dangers that these cold, freshwater settings can pose, even when air temperatures are very high.
While a large number of people (81) accidentally drowned at the beach or on the coast, at 29% of all such fatalities, this is less than half of the number that drowned inland.
83% of all last year’s fatalities were men.
The Forum is an umbrella group of over 50 organisations that have united for the first time this summer to launch the campaign on the UN’s global World Drowning Prevention Day. They include the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), HM Coastguard (HMCG), National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), Royal Lifesaving Society (RLSS), Canal & River Trust, Mineral Products Association, Swim England, Water Safety Scotland (WSS), Water Safety Wales (WSW) and many more.
Campaign website: Make the Right Call, Call 999 – Respect The Water
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21/07/2022
Dear all,
The UK’s National Water Safety Forum is coming together to launch its first ever campaign, Respect The Water, in response the World Health Organisation (WHO) call to ‘do one thing’ to prevent drowning ahead of the second ever United Nations (UN) World Drowning Prevention Day on Monday 25th July.
The campaign focuses on who to call if you see someone struggling in the water, reminding the public that for inland locations you should call 999 and ask for the Fire and Rescue Service, but for coastal locations you should call 999 and ask for Coastguard.
As part of this lifesaving campaign, we are releasing a new & impactful water safety advert which will be shown on ITV on World Drowning Prevention Day, together with targeted advertising in high drowning areas using catch up TV, outdoor posters and social media. There will also be a significant PR push to secure media coverage during the campaign to amplify these important messages to the public at the height of summer.
For a full run through of the campaign you can watch a recorded briefing here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrmHLZo7Z5Q
Key activity
- Launch of the TV advert on 25 July with adverts to be shown on ITV (Good Morning Britain – 7:40am, ITV Lunchtime News – 1:52pm, ITV Early Evening News – 6:45pm, Coronation Street – Various between 8:15 – 8:45pm)
- ‘Make the right call' outdoor banners at the following confirmed locations: Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool ,Boston/Lincoln, London, Newcastle, Bath , Argyll & Bute, Glasgow, Tenby, Haverfordwest, Conwy
- A new The Respect the Water website will go live on 25 July, with campaign content and film: https://www.respectthewater.com
- A national press release will go out on 25th July to highlight the campaign as well as targeted media opportunities. Several spokespeople will be available including NWSF Chair for interviews. The PR will also be available on the NWSF blog.
- Several tweets and social media post are in place from the weekend via the NWSF twitter account – please retweet, share and like (the suggested posts are the end of this post)
- Approximately 45 locations across the UK will be going blue and tying into the Respect The Water Campaign. Please send us any details or info on any areas you know going blue to info@nationalwatersafety.org.uk
How to get involved in the campaign
- Use the hashtags #RespectTheWater and #DrowningPrevention Day
- Over the next few days and into the weekend, post the suggested campaign preview messages (below)
- On the 25th, directly post a copy or share the social media posts from @NWSFweb
- Share your going blue images, event images and videos
On behalf of the National Water Safety Forum communications and coordinating groups - we hope that you have a successful World Drowning Prevention Day and look forward to seeing your images and stories.
Social media suggestions
Suggested messages for NWSF members for the launch of our Respect The Water campaign on 25 July 2022.
All the campaign content will be available at www.respectthewater.com from this weekend, if you are a social media manger or need access to content earlier please drop a us a line.
These can be tweaked for individual organisations.
22- 24th Leading up to the day
- We’re supporting the @NWSFweb campaign #RespectTheWater which launches on 25 July, World #DrowningPrevention Day. We’ll be sharing lifesaving info about what to do in an emergency
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- On 25 July it’s World #DrowningPrevention Day and we’ll be supporting the @NWSFweb new campaign #RespectTheWater. Learn more here
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- Last year, 277 people died from accidental drowning in the UK. This is 277 too many. Support new campaign #RespectTheWater on 25 July World #DrowningPrevention Day
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25th On the day
- It’s World #DrowningPrevention Day and we’re supporting @NWSFweb new #RespectTheWater campaign. Watch the film and tell us what you think [inset film link]
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- On World #DrowningPrevention Day we’re supporting #RespectTheWater from @NWSFweb. Make the right call in an emergency – call 999 [inset link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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- As a member of @NWSFweb, we’re supporting their new campaign #RespectTheWater. Watch this film to see what to do in a water emergency [inset link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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- Would you know what to do in a water emergency? Watch this film from @NWSFweb campaign #RespectTheWater to find out [inset link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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- If you see someone struggling in the water, fight your instincts to get in. Call 999. Ask for Coastguard at the coast, Fire Service inland. #RespectTheWater [insert link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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Days/week after tweets
- Would you know what to do in a water emergency? Watch this film from @NWSFweb campaign #RespectTheWater to find out [inset link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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- Make the right call – call 999. Don’t get in the water to save your friends. A rescue for 1 could be a search for 2. #RespectTheWater [insert link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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- Xxxxxx was lucky that his Dad called 999 rather than jump in after him when he got into trouble in the sea. Make the right call – call 999 #RespectTheWater [insert link to case study]
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Softer touch tweets
- The water is a lovely place to spend time, but we all need to know how to stay safe. It’s World #DrowningPrevention Day and we’re supporting #RespectTheWater from @NWSFweb
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- Docks and reservoirs are lovely places to spend time, but #RespectTheWater and look out for your friends. [inset link to film on YouTube or NWSF webpage]
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