South Wales Fire and Rescue Service came together with partner organisations to deliver vital water‑safety education to 500 local children, reinforcing key life‑saving messages about staying safe in and around water.
The multi‑agency event saw MonsLife, Gwent Police, the RNLI, Swim Safe Cymru and Caldicot Leisure Centre working together, echoing the national Be Water Aware campaign.
Across two days, pupils from schools across Monmouthshire took part in interactive, small‑group sessions both in and out of the water, learning essential skills such as how to ‘float to live’, who and how to call for help, how to identify water hazards and how to stay safe at the beach.
SWFRS Watch Manager Dave Vaughan led sessions using a specialist demonstration tank, illustrating how river water behaves and why it can be so dangerous.
“The demonstration tank is a great tool for helping children really understand the dangers of rivers,” said Dave. “It allows us to show how water moves, how oxygenation affects buoyancy and the hidden currents and water patterns can overpower even confident swimmers, and why entering rivers to cool off or retrieve items can quickly become life‑threatening.
The sessions also focused on cold water shock, a major factor in inland water incidents.
“Cold water shock is particularly dangerous in rivers, because they don’t warm up in the same way as the sea or holiday pools,” Vaughan explained. “Even on a hot day, the water temperature can cause muscles to seize and breathing to become uncontrollable.”
Event organiser, Jack Harries of MonsLife, said the event helps bridge the gap between services and schools, giving children direct contact with the organisations that keep them safe. “Over two days we reached 500 children, and they’ve absolutely loved it,” he said.
“Anyone can drown and simple actions can save lives. These types of events enable children to hear consistent messages from different organisations – backed by hands‑on demonstrations – helps them remember what to do in an emergency.”
Gwent Police’s PCO Brooks added that events like this break down barriers, helping children feel comfortable around officers while learning how equipment like radios and handcuffs are used to protect people.
