Reach and Rescue is ecstatic to announce their partnership with the country’s leading water safety charity, the Royal Lifesaving Society UK (RLSS UK) in what will prove to be a vital step towards stemming the tidal wave of accidental drownings occurring in the UK every year. With the UK & Ireland experiencing 700 people drowning last year and with the number of serious water-related incidents steadily increasing year-on-year, this landmark partnership between two of the country’s leading water safety powerhouses could not come at a more opportune time. Their shared mutual strategy is to dramatically improve the standards of national water safety; whereas RLSS UK’s primary focus is on delivering their extensive knowledge of water safety through comprehensive training and education, Reach and Rescue’s contribution to reducing the amount of water-related deaths are through their continuous innovation of effective water rescue equipment.

“We’re delighted our vision of a future where death by accidental drowning being completely preventable is shared with the UK’s foremost provider of drowning prevention education,” says Stuart Glover, Marketing Manager at Reach and Rescue. “Our innovative water rescue equipment is already enabling members of the public to save lives across the UK but together with RLSS UK we’ll strive to make this shared vision a fully-fledged reality.”

This fledgeling partnership is wasting no time in delivering on their shared vision; Reach and Rescue are donating an urgently required emergency throwline board – part of their Portsafe range of public-access water rescue equipment – to an area of particular high-risk as assessed by RLSS UK along the River Severn in Worcestershire. Proactively identifying high-risk areas in need of specialist water safety equipment is a key proponent of this water safety partnership. With the aforementioned reports of serious water-related incidents gradually increasing year-on-year, the need for specialist water safety equipment for the protection of public health has never been greater. As a result, both companies aim for this Portsafe donation to be the first of many that are installed throughout the UK. Remarkably, the emergent Portsafe system is already saving lives – most notably, the Portsafe has been successfully used by a police officer to rescue a member of the public from drowning in the River Great Ouse in Bedford in June 2019.

In anticipation of a fruitful partnership for years to come, Director of Reach and Rescue Jo Taylor says: “Our vision for all accidental drownings being 100% preventable isn’t a concept or distant future; it’s actually on the horizon.”

For more information please visit: www.reachandrescue.com