Easington MP Grahame Morris backs parliamentary motion raising awareness around water safety.

Early Day Motion 351: welcomes the first-ever UN World Drowning Prevention Day and calls on the Government to improve water safety teaching in schools.

Almost 4,000 people in the UK lost their lives to water accidents in the last 10 years. As more people took to open water in the recent hot weather, the Royal Life Saving Society UK said it is aware of 17 incidents of accidental loss of life in the water between July 17-20.

Most water accidents are preventable with simple, low-cost interventions.

Yet despite the success of previous campaigns on road safety and fire safety there have been no comparable efforts on water safety.

Speaking ahead of World Drowning Prevention Day, Easington MP Grahame Morris said:

“East Durham has a beautiful coast which I encourage people to visit, enjoy, but most importantly, respect our coastal waters.

As we have seen across the country, the increase in water deaths has highlighted the need to improve education around water safety. We are failing our young people by not equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to be safe at the coast and around open waters”