MPs and campaigners join grieving families to demand water safety action on Mirror campaign after 19 deaths
EXCLUSIVE: MPs, campaigners and grieving families gathered in Westminster urging the government to improve water safety education ahead of the six-week school summer holidays
Politicians gathered in the heart of Westminster yesterday to demand the government takes action on water safety ahead of the school holidays.
The call to arms came after 13 children and six adults lost their lives to drowning during the recent heatwave. Among those at the meeting was Doncaster East and Isle of Axholme MP Lee Pitcher, who has tirelessly campaigned to keep youngsters safe in water.
He told the Mirror: “I’ve spoken to many bereaved parents whose children have tragically drowned – it’s the most horrendous thing in the world and I don’t want to see anyone else go through that heartache.
"The government has the ability now to step in and support and do something to save lives. We know it’s going to be a hot summer and people are going to be drinking because of the World Cup, so I’m calling on the government to do a huge national campaign to warn people of the risks of going into open water unsupervised.”
Mr Pitcher – who is heading up the Private Members’ Bill Sam’s Law on water safety – is one of several MPs, sportspeople, campaigners and grieving families who have pledged their support for the Mirror’s Save Lives for Sam campaign. We’re urging the government to launch a campaign ahead of the six-week school summer holiday to educate youngsters on how to stay safe in and around water.
Sam Haycock, 16, died in May 2021 after getting into trouble in a reservoir on the last day of school. His grieving dad, Simon Haycock, joined MPs at the Westminster event on Tuesday and told us: “Many young people think they can swim because they can swim in a swimming pool, but swimming in open water is a different skill set. You have to understand about cold water shock, debris under the surface of the water, plants at the bottom that you can get your legs tangled in.
"In May, when Sam died and the recent deaths occurred, the water is still very cold despite hot weather and that’s where young people are getting caught out because they assume if it’s hot the water is going to be warm. That’s when they get themselves into some real difficulty and sadly not enough people know what to do when they get into difficulty.”
Simon was joined by Vanessa Abbess, whose 17-year-old boy Joe died in a rip current off Bournemouth beach in 2023. She added: “Joe was very strong, he was muscly and fit and at the gym constantly. He could swim and was in a flag safe swimming zone. It happened because rip currents are unpredictable and come out of nowhere.”
Jim Dickson, MP for Dartford, came along to the event after one of his constituents drowned during the recent hot spell. He said: “We had a very sad case of a young man, who jumped into a flooded quarry pit and didn’t resurface. Emergency services were called and sadly he was found drowned shortly after.
“His parents and others connected are very keen to get the message out there that water safety is incredibly important both in schools and wider awareness. "It’s tragic - many of the people who died in water related incidents in the recent heat wave are young people. It’s tragic and it’s avoidable.” Darren Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen and former minister Anneliese Dodds also attended.
Pete Kennedy, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the Royal Life Saving Society UK, which organised the gathering, said: “We’re really pleased to have brought together MPs, charities and bereaved families to call on the government to act now to prevent drownings. As we mark Drowning Prevention Week, there's not long left to get lifesaving public messaging out to kids before the school holidays. The Government must act now, and we are here to support them to get it right."
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, the Black Swimming Association, The National Water Safety Forum, the RNLI, Swim England and The Swimming Alliance, have all joined forces with the alongside MPs and bereaved families. Olympic legends Becky Adlington and Tom Dean and elite swimmer Michael Gunnin have also backed our fight.
Together, we are all calling for:
- The Government to launch an urgent public awareness campaign ahead of the summer holidays which targets parents and children on TikTok and other social media platforms. This should include lifesaving techniques and advice such as avoid diving into the water and information on cold water shock.
- Water companies and those in control of high risk large water bodies, to ‘do the right thing’ by bringing in the correct safety equipment.
- Compulsory lessons in schools (ahead of the holidays) on how to survive if you get into difficulty in the water, which should include the Water Safety Code, the RNLI ‘Float to Live’ campaign, and Phone-Float-Throw bystander advice.
- Put in place ‘Sam’s Law’. We urge the Government to make it law that safety equipment should be installed around high risk large bodies of water and make damaging this safety equipment an aggravated criminal offence to damage or steal this safety equipment. Currently it is already a criminal offence under theft or criminal damage but the penalties are low for these very minor offences.
- And finally the appointment of a Minister for Water Safety, as they have in Wales and Scotland, as drowning must be accepted as a preventable public health issue.
