Mission to ‘eradicate scourge of drowning’ after deaths surge across England

Strategy will tackle ‘public health disaster’ that claims more lives than fire, flooding or knife crime

A national strategy to address the “public health disaster” of drowning has been launched in England – hours after two women died at an Essex beach, the latest in a surge of water-related tragedies.

Among the measures being considered are: providing every child in England with water safety education and swimming lessons; establishing how climate change can increase risks; and media campaigns to inform bystanders how to respond to a potential drowning.

Drowning prevention strategies for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also being launched this week.

Speaking at the announcement of the strategy in Canary Wharf, east London, on Thursday, Prof Mike Tipton, the chair of Water Safety England, said the measures would “eradicate the scourge of drowning”.

He added: “Drowning is an ongoing public health disaster that, despite claiming more lives than fire, flooding, or knife crime, often stays below the radar.”

Vanessa Abbess, whose 17-year-old son, Joe, died after getting into difficulty in the water off Bournemouth beach in 2023, warned the public against being “naive and complacent”. Sunnah Khan, a 12-year-old girl, died alongside Joe after being caught in a rip current.

Abbess said: “As a society, there’s an element of naivety and complacency regarding the dangers of open water swimming.

“It’s not enough to know how to swim in a warm pool if you don’t know what to do to help your chances of survival if conditions change or you find yourself in difficulty in open water. The risk needs to be assessed. You need to stop and think. You wouldn’t cross a road without thinking.”

The UK has experienced three near-successive heatwaves this summer and since May there have been at least 35 drowning deaths, including eight in July, according to a study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Between 2019 and 2023, there were 2,306 water-related deaths in England, with 42% being accidental. Of these, 39% happened during summer, and 80% were male, most of them aged between 20 and 29.

On Thursday, a woman and her teenage daughter died in an incident off the coast of West Mersea , in Essex, police said. According to reports, several people got into difficulty in the water near Seaview Avenue.

In an effort to spread the message to young people, TikTok donated more than £400,000 in advertising credits to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Royal Life Saving Society to help their water safety campaigns.

Darren Paffey, the MP for Southampton Itchen and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for water safety education, said: “Today is a really important milestone but it’s also the start line in some ways. The hard work now begins to turn this strategy into sustained generational change in memory of everyone who has tragically lost their life to drowning.”

Abbess said her son was a confident swimmer and was being sensible at the time of the incident, swimming between the lifeguard flags “when the sea conditions suddenly changed and a ferocious rip current hit which swept them off their feet”. Joe was recovered from the water 32 minutes later, but died on the beach.

“The reality and permanence of Joe’s death is still very difficult to process,” Abbess said. “Our lives were so normal until 31 May 2023, when Joe caught the train to Bournemouth for a beach day with his friends, as he had done before. We had no cause for concern. We had no idea he wouldn’t come home at the end of that day,” she said. “However, by that evening, our family of four had become a family of three.”

Describing the impact of Joe’s death, Abbess said: “With a lot of therapy, I cope, but I’m not the person I used to be. I’m anxious, very traumatised, and carry the pain of grief constantly. The sound of waves causes me anxiety. The sunny days are particularly triggering. I hope it never does, but I’m very worried it’ll happen again at Bournemouth one day.”

Earlier this week, the UK Health Security Agency announced it was working with leading water safety charities to highlight the risks of swimming in open water as schools across the UK broke up for summer.