For those that were a part of the recent WAVES conference held in Palmerston North you may have heard from Phil Waggott about the new early years parent led approach to swimming and water safety.

This different approach has been catching on around the country from Northland down to Christchurch and the SplashSave team are working to be across all regions within the next five years.

The SplashSave mission is – No child drowns! To do this they want to ensure every child has a comprehensive water safety knowledge and awareness as well as some basic swimming ability before they leave school.

The SplashSave approach is different as it’s focus is on parental knowledge and understanding to allow them to be confident to take a lead on water safety for their family.

SplashSave exists to create a connector in the industry and engage with those currently disengaged. The team not only runs engagement activities to get people going to their local facility to use the program it also provides the opportunity for ongoing participation with local swim schools, Surf Lifesaving Clubs and any other organisation that provides aquatic activity and is wanting to be a part of the new initiative.

Phil is always looking for new partnerships and strongly believes that together we can solve this issue “There are so many awesome organisations/swim school/clubs running fantastic initiatives to combat the drowning toll. What SplashSave aims to do is spread their message in their local community as a place to go for more knowledge/advice or support.”

SplashSave is a national initiative run locally and is now getting several councils and other organisations on board to provide a sustainable option that will increase the baseline swimming ability of all Kiwis in the future as well as providing key safety and risk information to lower the drowning toll and allow people to make smarter choices when in on or around our waterways. All while advertising their own services and facilities. It’s a win win.

Phil says “The more local Councils and organisations can make this from them in a local sense, the more likely people are to connect with it and them in the future. SplashSave is not here to make a name for itself, we want to promote the local activity to those that are not currently engaging in swimming and water safety.”

Since the WAVES conference and their award nomination Phil and his SplashSave team have been successful in creating several new partnerships and funding opportunities and are wanting to work with you in the future to provide better water safety outcomes for your local area.

If you are interested in hearing more about the SplashSave program/To see what is happening in your area or to talk about how this can work in your local area/swim school/facility, please reach out to Phil directly phil@splashsave.org.