Drowning Prevention Week

RLSS UK’s Drowning Prevention Week is an annual, water safety campaign designed to educate children and young adults in water safety and lifesaving skills.

Drowning Prevention Week educates children aged 5 to 17 each June with crucial water safety advice just before the summer holidays, when young people are outdoors more and need these skills and knowledge most, so everyone can enjoy water safely. We're calling on all carers, schools, lifesaving clubs, leisure operators and water-related businesses to participate.

Save the Date: Drowning Prevention Week is happening from 13-20 June 2026.

RLSS UK exists to prevent drowning and support everyone to enjoy water safely. We are committed to saving lives by leading in lifesaving, lifeguarding and water safety education, and we aspire to have communities free from drowning. With your support we can achieve this.

Drowning is preventable and nobody should drown.


How to get involved in Drowning Prevention Week 2026:

Download Resources

Download the NEW Drowning Prevention Week resources and use them to educate your children, customers and community about the Water Safety Code and water safety.

Download

Tell us how you’re getting involved

We’d love to add your activities on our 2026 Supporters webpage which we’ll be sharing across our social media in the lead up to and during Drowning Prevention Week.

Tell us what activities you’re running

Drowning Prevention Week
Join in with Drowning Prevention Week activities near you

Schools, lifesaving clubs, and sports and leisure centres are at the heart of our communities and will be running a variety of activities during Drowning Prevention Week.

Find out who is hosting activities


Download our Drowning Prevention Week 2026 Campaign Supporters Pack:

Download the Drowning Prevention Week 2026 Campaign Supporters Pack 


Can you help us make a bigger impact this year?

In 2025, the following outcomes were achieved during Drowning Prevention Week. Thank you for your support!

  • 2.34m+ children were educated in water safety using our free resources (almost double the number compared to 2024).
  • There was nearly a 600% increase in SEND resource downloads.
  • There was a good overall geographical spread of school provider locations across the UK.
  • Over 1000 leisure operators across the UK and Ireland downloaded our new resources this year!
  • Participation across the Leisure sector increased by 97% for Drowning Prevention Week 2025.
  • RLSS UK and Drowning Prevention Week were featured in 605 press articles and broadcasts across the UK.
  • The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water Safety was launched at Westminster.


Hear from families affected by drowning as to why water safety education is essential: