The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Swim England have this year collaborated with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) to add 30,000 extra spaces to their free swimming programme, Swim Safe.

The sessions teach 7 to 14-year-olds how to stay safe in and around open water with more than 175,000 children having been taught vital lifesaving skills since Swim Safe was established in 2013.

RNLI lifeguards saved the lives of 34 children and teenagers aged 7 to 14 last summer and assisted another 7,777.

The UK’s national governing body for sailing, powerboating, and windsurfing, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has now joined forces with the RNLI and Swim England by committing 15 of its activity centres to delivering the Swim Safesessions as part of its their watersports activities being undertaken by children.

The additional sessions, run through the RYA’s OnBoard programme, will help to deliver lifesaving skills to an additional 30,000 children on top of the 18,000 public and school places already offered at other outdoor activity centres.

James Woodhouse of the RNLI’s Water Safety team said: ‘Statistics show that children and teenagers accounted for over half of those needing assistance by RNLI lifeguards on our beaches in the summer months last year.

‘By educating them about water safety through the Swim Safe programme from a young age, together we can help reduce the number of incidents involving open water.’