Royal boost for NSRI’s water safety plan

THE National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Education Programme has welcomed Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco as a patron of their programme.

Established in 2006, the programme has officially reached 2 million children, teaching them how to be safe around water and what to do in an emergency.

During 2015 the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation (PCMF) joined hands with the NSRI through sponsorship.

NSRI’s chief executive, Cleeve Robertson, said: “Working together with PCMF is the extension of our collaboration, co-operation and partnership strategy within the NSRI to create a wide network within which to prevent drowning through public awareness, education and survival swimming skills development.

“We have a huge challenge to reach a million school children every year and make them ‘safe’, and with the foundation we believe we can give children a future.”

Robertson said they had worked with the foundation’s chief executive, Ryk Neethling, to scope out a number of joint initiatives that would roll out over the next two years and include a collaboration to develop an accredited survival swimming course that was not restricted by copyright.

Neethling said: “We are excited to partner with the NSRI to reach as many children as possible to teach them basic water safety and CPR. This partnership will get us one step closer to reaching our goal of reaching 1 million children a year.”

The NSRI was established about 50 years ago as a search-and-rescue organisation, and in 2006 the lack of data on drowning led the organisation to request a research document from the Medical Research Council, the results of which showed that children were most at risk, and principally those from poor communities. This prompted the establishment of the NSRI Education Programme.

Instructors visit schools and teach children what to do in an emergency, who to call for help, how to rescue a friend and how to do hands-on CPR.