Branch Annual report of 2016

Annual General Meeting 2017 & Annual Report of 2016RLSSWARWICKSHIRERLSSUKWARKS

Contents Notice of Annual General Meeting 2017 3 Minutes of Annual General Meeting 2016 4 Branch Income & Expenditure 2016 6 Management Committee 2016 – 2017 7 In Memory, Mr Keith Sach JP 8 2016 National Honours Recipients 9 President’s Address 10 Committee Report - Chair 11 Committee Report - Admin 12 upper Committee Report - Safeguarding 12 lower Committee Report - Finance 13 upper Committee Report - University Liaison 13 lower Committee Report - Honorary Medical Adviser 14 Committee Report - Community 15 Committee Report - Sport 17 Committee Report - Club Support 18 upper Committee Report - Communications 18 upper 2016 Branch Awards Trophies 18 lower Russell Medal 19 Club Report - Birmingham Lifeguards 20 upper Club Report - Edgbaston High School for Girls 20 lower Club Report - King Edward VI High School for Girls 21 upper Club Report - North Birmingham Swimming & Life Saving Club 21 lower Club Report - Northfield Life Saving Club 22 upper Club Report - Solihull Life Saving Club 22 lower Club Report - Warwick Life Saving Club 23 Club Report - Warwick School 24 upper Club Report - Warwick Sport Life Saving Club 24 lower Club Reports Not Received 24 bottom 2017 AGM Attendance Confirmation Form 25 2

Annual General Meeting 2017 Notice is hereby given that the 48th Annual General Meeting of the Warwickshire Branch of The Royal Life Saving Society UK will be held at Safeside at Eastside, 101 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW on Thursday, 8th June 2017 starting at 6:30pmAgenda President’s Welcome1. Apologies for Absence2. In memory – Mr Keith Sach JP, Mr Darren Hale3. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting4. Annual Report of 2016 – Branch objective feedback5. Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 20166. Branch projects – feedback from Project Leaders7. Presentation of Branch & Regional awards trophies8. Any Other Business, of which written notice has been given, that may be transacted at an Annual9. General Meeting Close of Meeting10.NB. There is no scheduled election of the core Management Committee posts this year. The Chair, Adminand Finance officers are elected for a 2 year term on even years starting in 2016. If an officer leaves theirpost prior to the end of their term the Committee will appoint a replacement until the NEXT AGMwhereupon the post will be elected for a period lasting until the next even year’s AGM.Venue information:You can find details of how to find the venue by checking their website http://www.safeside.org.uk/findeastside 3

Minutes of Annual General Meeting 2016The meeting was held on Sunday 8th May 2016 starting at 10:40am in Room H0.03, Humanities Building,University of Warwick, CoventryPresent (16) Derrick Beckett, Jon Belcher, Andrew Bentley, Anthony Dean, Joe Elkin, Rebecca Ewers, Tom Galeford, Rose Link, John Long, Sarah Page, Vivien Reeves, Angela Roberts, Jonathan Stanton, Dale Stroyde, Alan Willetts, Marian Yates.Guest (1) Aaron Dhanda, RLSS UK Community Drowning Prevention Co-ordinator.1. President's Welcome Our President, John Long welcomed attendees to the meeting.2. Apologies for absence (9) Hayley Butterworth, Grace Higgins, Anthony Hitchins, Grace Jordan, Ian Lewis, Mark Paterson, Gavin Perkins, Ben Prime, John Russell.3. In memory The president asked that everyone present stand for a moment of silence in memory of Mr Eric Woodcock a long term member of and driving force behind Coventry Life Saving Club, who had passed away on 28th November 2015 at 96 years of age.4. Minutes of Branch Annual General Meeting 2015 The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting were considered, their acceptance as a true record was proposed by Jonathan Stanton and seconded by Angela Roberts, agreed by all present.5. Branch Annual Report of 2015 The president asked if there were any queries relating to the Annual Report 2015 and with nothing being raised Alan Willetts was thanked for its production and circulation. It was noted that only 1 club submitted a report.6. Branch Accounts for Year Ending 31st December 2015 These had been circulated to members along with the Branch Annual Report in early April 2016. It was asked what the current account balance was and this was stated by Alan Willetts. Alan also emphasised that the Branch should consider using this money to further Lifesaving around the Branch. The president encouraged clubs to apply for grants for equipment etc. The acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Angela Roberts and seconded by Jonathan Stanton. Agreed by all.7. Flexible Branches A presentation by Aaron Dhanda, RLSS UK Community Drowning Prevention Co-ordinator. Aaron outlined the new structure that Head Office was recommending Branches adopt. This suggests that each Branch committee is now formed for a smaller core of Chair, Finance, Admin and Safeguarding. Each Branch can then co-opt other individuals to support Branch objectives as and when necessary. Aaron responded to various questions from the floor.8. Election of Branch Management Committee OfficersChair - Mrs Vivien Reeves Proposed by John LongAdmin - Mr Anthony Dean Seconded by Angela RobertsFinance - Mr Alan Willetts Proposed by John Long Seconded by Vivien Reeves Proposed by Marian Yates Seconded by Rose LinkAll of the above propositions were agreed by all present by a show of hands for each office. 4

9. Branch Objectives & Co-opted officers3 Branch Objectives that the Committee had considered were put forward and the following Leaderswere identified;Community Vacant at this timeOpen Water Angela RobertsSport Sarah Page3 co-opted Committee posts were announced with the following members volunteeringUniversity Liaison Rebecca EwersCommunications Vacant at this timeClub Support Vacant at this time10. Any Other Business Awards Trophies The Branch has not presented trophies this year as there have been issues with collating the data. This is being resolved. The meeting was asked if the presenting of trophies should continue. The feeling of the meeting was yes they should continue. The meeting was asked if presenting trophies at club nights would be more appropriate. The feeling of the meeting was that this would be a good idea.11. President’s closing address The meeting was formally closed at 11:36.AddendumFollowing the AGM Alan Willetts liaised with Aaron Dhanda to get accurate information regarding the awards thatwere taken during 2015 by clubs affiliated to Warwickshire Branch. By 16th July 2016 it was resolved that theAwards Trophy winners were;Birmingham Clubs Life Support Salver Life Saving ShieldWarwickshire Clubs Birmingham Lifesaving Class Solihull Life Saving ClubSchools Warwick Life Saving Club Stratford SharksUniversities & Colleges Warwick School Warwick SchoolCommercial Centres University of Birmingham LSC University of Birmingham LSC MEB Training MEB TrainingThe trophies will be engraved and presented by the Branch President to the Clubs / Classes at their club.Full league tables for awards taken by RLSS UK Warwickshire Clubs / Classes during 2015;Life Support Pts Life Saving PtsBirmingham Clubs Birmingham ClubsBirmingham Lifesaving Class 290 Solihull Lifesaving Club 325Northfield Lifesaving Club 205 Birmingham Lifesaving Class 315Solihull Lifesaving Club Northfield Lifesaving Club 165North Birmingham Swimming & Lifesaving Club 70 25 Warwickshire Clubs 275Warwickshire Clubs Stratford Sharks 235Warwick Life Saving Club 360 Warwick Life Saving ClubStratford Sharks 170 260 Schools 195Schools 1610 Warwick SchoolWarwick School 140 Edgbaston High School For Girls 90Edgbaston High School For Girls 60 King Edward VI High School for GirlsKing Edward VI High School for Girls 455 450 Universities & Colleges 75Universities & Colleges 300 University of Birmingham Lifesaving ClubUniversity of Birmingham Lifesaving Club Warwick Sport Lifesaving Club 920WMS Paediatrics Society 50 300Warwick Sport Lifesaving Club Commercial Centres 180 205 M E B TrainingCommercial Centres 25 Benchmark Training Services 75M E B Training 25 Coventry Sports & Leisure Centre 60Save A Life Training 25 Wyndley Leisure Centre 60Shipston on Stour Leisure Centre AOK Training 30Pingles Leisure Centre Fox Hollies Leisure Centre 15 Small Heath Leisure Centre 15 Tiverton Pool & Fitness Centre Beeches Pool & Fitness Centre 5

Branch Income & Expenditure 2016 INCOME Year to Date Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Year to DateRLSS UK Branch Proportions - 2015 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016Membership (£) (£) (£) (£) (£) (£)RLSS UK Branch Proportions -NRSTAC 2,204.24 484.16 497.67 445.63 544.89 1,972.35RLSS UK Branch Proportns - S & S1st 499.20 31.20 58.80 78.00 115.20 283.20RLSS UK Branch Proportns - S & SFurther 198.00 52.00 44.00 29.20 6.00 131.20Competitions 72.80 43.40 18.20 - 12.60 74.20Courses 74.00 - - 75.00 - 75.00 120.00 - - -Cricket Courses 1,096.00 - - - -Save a Baby's Life 1,770.00 400.00 - 400.00 3,756.00 501.00 475.00 413.00 655.00 2,044.00Examination/Awards Income 762.10 1,052.35 918.00 769.15 229.00 2,968.50Goods/Equipment Income 200.95 - 224.23 - - - 23.28Branch Membership Income - - - - - - 187.69 - - - - -Local Authority & Other Grants - - - - - -Donations/Gift Aid - - - - - - 483.46 - - 0.03 - -Branch Events/Raffles etc - 0.16 569.90 125.00 - 570.09 11,223.49 - - 1,935.01 - 125.00Postage Receipts 2,564.27 2,782.52 8,867.77 Quarter 3 1,585.97Bank Interest Received (£) YTD 2016 100.00 Quarter 4 (£)Sundry Income - (£) 350.00 76.00 250.00 - TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 441.46 - 473.50 790.83 - DIRECT EXPENDITURE YTD 2015 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 453.87 239.23 1,179.62 - 253.00 2,870.20Competitions (£) (£) (£) - 617.73 1,581.66Courses 393.21 - - -Cricket Courses - - - - -Save a Baby's Life 60.00 - 34.54Examination/Award Fees 1,032.50 210.00 187.50 248.70 -Goods/Equipment costs 309.31 189.62 275.00 - 220.00Branch Membership Fees 687.00 1,006.60 819.77 35.00 - -Branch AGM Expenses 3,606.00 111.26 398.80 2,420.86 -RLSS UK Conference & AGM - 248.70Expenses 516.40 - - (485.85) 1,359.96 275.00Training Fees - - 34.54Trophy Costs Quarter 3 35.00Grant costs 28.78 - 220.00 (£) 7,268.22Sundry Costs - - 5.25 220.00 - - - TOTAL DIRECT EXPENDITURE 80.00 - - - - - - - - 1,637.17 - 1,850.23 - 100.00 - 6,723.89 - -GROSS INCOMING/(OUTGOING) 4,499.60 927.10 932.29 50.64 226.01 1,599.55 RESOURCES - 13.93 Quarter 4 YTD 2016 OVERHEAD COSTS YTD 2015 Quarter 1 Quarter 2 - 69.82 (£) (£)Postage Costs (£) (£) (£) - 51.74Stationery Costs (555.67) -Telephone Costs 60.80 16.04 30.45 - -Insurance 10.49 - - - -Bank Charges - - - -Marketing Costs - - - - -Printing Costs - - - - -Maintenance Costs - - - - -Room Hire Costs 50.33 - - - -Travel & Expenses - - - - -Depreciation Costs - - - 85.98Irrecoverable VAT - 193.04 193.04Bad Debt Write Offs 72.37 19.74 15.60 9.97 45.00 - - - - - TOTAL OVERHEAD COSTS 37.61 375.76 - 15.30 5.80 203.01 231.60 - - 51.08 51.85NET INCOMING / (OUTGOING) 4,268.00 876.02 880.44 23.00 1,223.79 RESOURCES 6

THE ROYAL LIFE SAVING SOCIETY Founded 1891 Incorporated by Royal Charter 1924 Patron HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Commonwealth PresidentHRH PRINCE MICHAEL OF KENT KCVO United Kingdom Branch President MR IAN HUTCHINGS (2016) Deputy, MR MARK A SMITH (2016) RLSS UK WARWICKSHIRE BRANCH Instituted January 1968 RLSS UK Warwickshire Branch Past PresidentsE Hanson (1968-88), D Burke (1988-9), Dr L Lloyd (1989-98), F Grant BEM (2000-13) Management Committee 2016 - 2017Note – The year after the name is the first year that that person was elected / appointed / co-opted to their current tenure of that postOfficers elected at AGM 2016 (2 year term) [email protected] Chair [email protected] Mrs Vivien Reeves (2005) [email protected] Admin Mr Tony Dean (2009) Finance Mr Alan Willetts (2004)Appointed by Committee after application & interview [email protected] Safeguarding 07891 492834 (safeguarding emergency only) Mr Jonathan Belcher (2013)Officers co-opted at / after AGM 2016 [email protected] University Liaison [email protected] Rebecca Ewers (2016) [email protected] Communications [email protected] Currently Vacant [email protected] Club Support [email protected] Currently Vacant Sport Lead Mrs Sarah Page (2005) Community Lead Mr Alan Willetts (2004) Open Water Lead Mrs Angela Roberts (2007)Honorary annual appointments [email protected] President [email protected] Mr John Long (2013) Medical Adviser Prof Gavin Perkins (1998)Honorary Vice Presidents F Apperley, M Matthews, J Russell 7

In MemoryMr Keith Sach JPThe Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Honorary Health andSafety Advisor for Swimming Pools and former CEO sadlydied on Saturday July 30th at the age of 68, following aperiod of illness.Keith Sach was held in extremely high regard for his expertisein this area of Health and Safety across the country and notonly provided guidance and support to the RLSS UK but also tomany swimming pool operators. As a respected safetyconsultant he was regularly called upon as an expert witnessfor his vast knowledge as a leader in his field of sport recreationand leisure.Keith, who leaves wife Elizabeth, two daughters Kathryn andAlexis, and son Jonathan, was a long term member of RLSSUK’s Warwickshire Branch and had a rich and successfulhistory with the charity. Keith whilst High Sheriff of Warwickshire 2013-14One of the branch’s former vice-presidents and a previouscombined RLSS Commonwealth Secretary and RLSS UK CEO, Keith held a number of senior roles throughouthis career.Born in 1948, a seven or eight-year-old Keith joined his local swimming club in Hounslow, Middlesex, and wasencouraged to take RLSS UK awards in Lifesaving. He took his Bronze Medallion when he was 13-years-old inthe open air pool at Ashford in Middlesex.Keith went on to gain experience working in lifesaving and lifeguarding as a Master at Solihull School inWarwickshire from 1970 to 1979. From the mid-1970s he served on the National Technical and Lifeguardcommittee.He was appointed as RLSS UK Director and Commonwealth Secretary in July 1979 when the RLSS UK’sHeadquarters were at Desborough House in London. The role of Director and Commonwealth Secretary werethen split out in the mid-1980s.Keith was responsible for the move from Desborough House toMountbatten House, Warwickshire, in 1980 and he oversaw thevisit of HM The Queen Mother to Studley for the formal openingof the new premises in June 1981 (the anniversary of LordMountbatten’s birth).Keith later became RLSS Commonwealth Vice President.He was for many years a Justice of the Peace and sat on theBench at several Magistrates Courts in South Warwickshire. Hewas also High Sheriff of Warwickshire 2013/14.More recently, Keith was Chairman of IQL from 2001 – 2006. Heoversaw the key change of the trading company RLSS LifeguardTraining Ltd to IQL UK Ltd. The role of an Executive Director wasalso implemented and reported directly to the Chairman. He wasa co-author of the current version of Managing Health and SafetySwimming Pools and in recent years has been a regularcontributor to the content of many of RLSS UK and IQL UKawards and qualifications.Director of IQL UK, Martin Symcox, said: “It was such sad newsto hear of Keith passing away. He was such a well-known,respected figure in the industry, an industry far poorer withouthim.“He was not only extremely knowledgeable in his field andshared this with thousands of people during his career, but hewas well liked by everyone and he will most surely be missed.”RLSS UK CEO, Di Steer, added: “Keith played a huge part in thesociety’s history and progress over the years and his impact willalways be remembered. All at RLSS UK send their thoughts toElizabeth and the rest of Keith’s family at this very sad time.”President of RLSS UK’s Warwickshire Branch, John Long, added: “Keith Sach devoted much of his life to theadmirable twin causes of drowning prevention and lifesaving training. He will be sadly missed by hisfriends locally and internationally.” 8

2016 National Honours RecipientsCongratulations from the Branch to all recipients of RLSS UK National Honours in 2016.Merit HonoursCertificate of Recognition Tania Pearson Adam Martin David BrownService HonoursMay be awarded after the actual years of service have been achieved, but before the next step is reached.Certificate of Thanks (4 & 8 years continuous service) Derrick Beckett bar Jonathan Belcher bar Anthony Dean bar Oscar Funge Alice Kidd Robert Phillips Jonathan Stanton barService Medal (12 & 16 years continuous service) Sid Hardy Kenneth Milner barService Cross (20, 25 & 30 years continuous service) 2nd bar Jeremy Doyle Jacqueline Edinburgh BEM bar Mark Paterson 2nd bar Roy Poller 2nd bar Angela Roberts (Buckley) Marian YatesUK Honorary Life Member (35 years continuous service) Anthony Hitchins 9

President’s AddressMr John [email protected] was another landmark year for Royal Life Saving Society as we celebrated 125 years since our formation asThe Swimmers’ Lifesaving Society, in 1891. The Society arranged a large number of successful events across theCommonwealth, and in the United Kingdom, that further promoted our vital Lifesaving training work.Along with the celebrations for our Anniversary the year was a sad one for both the Branch and me personally.Our long standing Vice President Keith Sach sadly passed away in July and we lost the involvement andexperience of a man who had been both Commonwealth Secretary and Director of RLSS UK. There is furthermention of Keith’s outstanding contribution to lifesaving elsewhere in the Annual Report. Vivien Reeves and I didrepresent the Branch at Keith’s Memorial Service in Warwick.I very sadly lost Pat, my wife, in August just 7 days after being diagnosed with cancer. Pat had fully supported mein my lifesaving activities for the Society both in this country and abroad. I would like to take this opportunity tothank all the Members of the Branch for their many cards, letters and telephone calls of support after Pat’s death.I would also thank the Branch Members who attended Pat’s funeral and I very much appreciated it.The Society’s Commonwealth President decided to mark the Society’s Anniversary by awarding the PrinceMichael of Kent 125th Anniversary Certificates of Merit to the top 125 persons throughout the Commonwealth whohad been judged to have given outstanding service to the Society. Those chosen were from amongst theSociety’s many hundreds of thousands of Society Members and award holders from around the world.It was an honour to this Branch that 3 of its members were awarded those certificates namely Vivien Reeves,Keith Sach and I. The Certificates were presented by Prince Michael at an event at the Royal Overseas League inLondon in November attended by many overseas recipients from as far afield as Australia, South Africa, India,Canada, St Lucia and other Commonwealth Countries. It was a truly international gathering of top lifesavers.That same evening the Society’s Patron HM The Queen gave a very memorable Reception at BuckinghamPalace for all the recipients and their guests. I was delighted to attend that event along with Vivien, her daughterSarah Page, and Elizabeth Sach who was representing Keith.I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all Branch Members for their continued voluntary work in the fieldof lifesaving training during 2016.I am so proud to be your President and look forward to meeting many of you throughout 2017. 10

Committee Report - ChairMrs Vivien [email protected] Branch committee have had another busy year, implementing the new Branch roles. Now we only have keypersons on the committee who have specific projects to work on during the year. The committee has decided toconcentrate on Outreach, Sport, Education in schools, Open Water, University Liaison (Don’t Drink & Drown), &Safeguarding. The project leaders then can recruit Branch members to help with these projects on an ad-hocbasis but they would not be involved in the normal running of the committee. We can also co-opt members forspecific short term projects such as Drowning Prevention week which is in June. Would anyone like to organise /run an event for this? We have already sent out a request for a person to help run an event for the Branch’s 50thBirthday in 2018 but I’m afraid we have not had a response at this stage. So if you are interested in the abovetwo events then please let me know. There are plenty of resources available from the committee, we are alsolooking into purchasing a gazebo, with all the RLSS logos on, which could be borrowed by clubs should they holdan individual event. Branches in the West Midlands have all contributed to purchasing a ‘Perry Buoy’ which canalso be borrowed to use at your events.Sadly the lifesaving section of Stratford Sharks had to close at the end of 2015 as the two Instructors who hadbeen running the club for three years could no longer continue and there were no volunteers to keep it going, agreat shame.Our branch AGM had a few more attendees this year, but we would like to see more of you. We are trying toarrange an evening meeting next year and I hope this will encourage you to attend.I went along to the Annual Conference in July where the emphasis was on drowning prevention. We were giventhe drowning statistics for Warwickshire where thirteen people drowned between 2012 & 2015. This informationhelps us identify areas where most people drown and we can then look at projects to perhaps put up bettersignage or getting rescue equipment put in place. I was the only person from Branch that attended, so please lookout for details for next year’s conference as we do have some free places and it would be nice to see more peoplethere.In August Aaron Dhanda, our Drowning Prevention Co-ordinator, and I put up the Head Office gazebo in CannonHill Park for the Lord Mayor’s Show. It rained most of the day but we got to talk to visitors about water safety andsome had a try at line throwing and the children’s water safety game.We then attended along with some Branch members, a Drowning Prevention day at Draycote Water, near Rugby.This was organized by the Fire & Police Services and other agencies were also invited. We gave out lots of watersafety messages to the public and again they had a go at line throwing. Since this event we have been in contactwith the fire service to discuss starting a local water safety forum.Then in September with Warwick LSC I attended the Rotary Club’s Dragon Boat Race event in St.Nicholas Park,Warwick. Again we were providing information on water safety.As the Royal Life Saving Society celebrated it’s 125th Birthday this year, the Warwickshire Branch Committeedecided to give all active lifesaving clubs £125 for equipment and a further £125 if the club ran some sort of eventfor drowning prevention, however I don’t think many of the clubs took us up on this offer, which is a great shameas I am sure that you may have needed some new resources for your club!Congratulations to all those who competed in events this year and to the entrants in the National LifesavingChampionships, (see separate report).Many Congratulations to all those who received a National Honour this year, your hard work for the Society ismuch appreciated.As the RLSS birthday celebrations continued, the Commonwealth President, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, gaveout 125 certificates of Merit to members from the Commonwealth. Our Branch President, John Long, the lateKeith Sach and I were very honoured to each receive one of these certificates, especially as we were all from thesame Branch. John and I were presented with our certificates by Prince Michael at the Royal Overseas Leaguein London. We then attended an evening reception at Buckingham Palace. We all met Her Majesty the Queenand other members of the Royal Family. We had a really wonderful time and it is something we will alwaysremember.The Save a Baby & Save a Child’s Life sessions are still very popular and there are many bookings for next year.Thanks to Alan for providing his SABL& SACL sessions.Sadly this year Branch Vice President Keith Sach passed away, please see separate report, he will be very sadlymissed.Thanks to the committee and everyone who has helped at a competition or at any of the other events this year, ithas been really appreciated and I look forward to working with you all next year. 11

Committee Report - AdminMr Anthony [email protected] was a challenging year for the Branch management committee.This year saw dramatic changes to the structure and process followed over previous years.The changes should help the committee move to a more task and action oriented approach.The committee structure has moved to 3 voted officers, and one recruited officer.This small core will then propagate projects in defined areas, run by co-opted members, with defined objectives,delivered by agreed tasks and actions.We believe that this will allow more focused delivery.The new committee was elected and began functioning following the AGM in May 2016.During the year the committee met on 5 occasions plus the AGM.The new structure means that the size of the committee will flex as projects evolve, consolidate and deliver overtime.The committee is always looking for new projects that can take lifesaving forward in our community.Committee Report - SafeguardingMr Jonathan [email protected] the Branch Safeguarding Officer, I am appointed to support the Branch committee, our members and our clubsin ensuring that our activities are carried out safely and in accordance with the RLSS UK national safeguardingpolicy. In addition to facilitating DBS checks, I can also provide support and advice to any of our members aroundsafeguarding issues and incidents. I am pleased to report at in 2016 there were no safeguarding incidentsreported in the branch.All of our members have a personal responsibility to ensure that lifesaving activities are carried out in safety. Withthe national spotlight still very much on protecting children and vulnerable adults it has never been more importantthat members comply with the society safeguarding policies when conducting activity on behalf to the society. Irecognise that the legalities in this area can cause concern and confusion, and I am working with the societynationally to ensure that our policy and guidance is more user friendly and easier to understand. We are alsolooking at a national safeguarding framework, including national training packages for club welfare officers andBranch safeguarding officers so that those in these positions have the support and knowledge needed to carry outtheir role. It is hoped that these would be launched over the coming months.I am very happy to be contacted to discuss any safeguarding concerns, questions or to provide advice. Pleaseemail [email protected] or in an emergency, call on 07891 492834In the meantime, I would like to thank you all for your help and support over the last year and I am looking forwardto working with you in 2017. 12

Committee Report - FinanceMr Alan [email protected] the end of 2016 our accounts continue to look extremely healthy and are included with this report to allmembers. However this money should really be used to advance drowning prevention and Life Saving / LifeSupport training in the area, rather than sitting in a bank account. To this end the Committee will be looking atways of using this money constructively in the future.At the start of the year the Committee decided to make an offer to all active clubs in the Branch to celebrate the125th Anniversary of the Society. The offer came in 2 parts, we would give £125 towards a club purchase ofequipment from the Society’s catalogue, and a further £125 towards the costs of running an event that promotedLifesaving to wider public, not just club members. I am pleased to report that a number of clubs took up this offer;o Birmingham University LSC £125 for equipmento Edgbaston High School for Girls £125 for equipment & £125 for an evento North Birmingham Swimming & LSC £125 for equipmento Warwick LSC £125 for equipment & £125 for an evento Warwick School £125 for equipmentWe are considering a similar offer when the Branch celebrates its Golden Anniversary in 2018, watch out for infothat will be sent to clubs nearer that time.Please remember that orders for items from RLSS Direct should preferably be placed through myself, it meansyou don’t have to pay postage, and the Branch receives a small percentage of some items’ values, so we all win.Just email me with the item name, quantity, code number from the current catalogue, a delivery name / address,and an invoice name / address (including email). Invoices will be sent to you from RLSS UK Head Office andinclude details of how payment can be made.Perry Buoy & Gazebo – The Branch has already part funded, along withthe other Branches in the West Midlands, the purchase of a Perry Buoycostume to be used at events around the Region. This is not just forBranch events but clubs can also borrow it. If you have an event takingplace and would like to use it please contact the Branch Chair to checkavailability and how to collect / return it.Hopefully early in 2017 we will take delivery of our Branch Gazebo withSociety branding which again can be used at events and clubs. If youwould like to borrow it again please contact the Branch Chair. However atthe time of writing it is not known exactly when this will be deliveredbecause it is part of a bulk buy by Head Office on behalf of a number ofdifferent Branches.Committee Report - University LiaisonMiss Rebecca [email protected] this year I have spent most of my time acting as communication between the Branch and the twouniversities. The most notable outcomes of this being representatives of both universities being present at theAGM and at some other meetings and Warwick University submitting an annual report to the Branch. I have alsokept the Branch informed of activities happening at the universities, such as Save A Life courses and thesuccesses of the universities at competition. Additionally I made attempts to get the universities to participate inthe Don't Drink and Drown campaign, and although the lifesaving club was willing to participate at Warwick, therewere issues with the University management that meant that we could not carry out the event this year. I hope tospend more time talking with the Universities about what sort of events they would like to get involved with, inparticular they seem to be more interested in sport, having participated at the Branch and Regional competitionsand some of them wanting to take part in the Ragley Crawl swim in May. 13

Committee Report - Honorary Medical AdviserProf Gavin Perkins MD, FRCP, FFICM, [email protected] takes a community to save a lifeEach year around 30,000 people are treated by emergency services for cardiac arrest outside of a hospital inEngland. Another 6,000 people die before emergency services arrive as no one starts bystander CPR. Overallof those people treated by emergency services, only 1 in 10 actually survive. The chances of survival increasetwo to four-fold if high quality bystander CPR is applied. This can be enhanced further by the use of publicaccess defibrillators, which if applied early can save 7 out of 10 victims. Despite these compelling statistics,bystander CPR is performed in only about half of cases of out of hospital cardiac arrest. The figures for publicaccess defibrillation are even worse – only 2-3 out of every 100 people that sustain a cardiac arrest receivetreatment from a public access defibrillator.In the European and Resuscitation Council (UK) Basic Life Support and Automated External Defibrillationguidelines we highlight that it takes a community to save a live. The diagram below illustrates the critical steps –call 999 (112) to alert the emergency call operator. They will activate an emergency ambulance response,provide instructions on how to deliver bystander CPR and (if known) direct you to the nearest AED.The work that members of the RLSS (UK) undertake in training the community on how to do bystander CPR iscritical for strengthening our response to cardiac arrest. Including familiarisation about the concepts of AEDs canalso help. Remember anyone can use an AED – you don’t need specific and detailed training (although it canhelp you do it faster, don’t let it stop you from trying). Fear of doing harm and uncertainty about what to do arekey reasons why people avoid doing CPR. Your support and training help reduce those concerns.Keep up the great work – the more people trained in CPR and AED, the more lives we can save together. 14

Committee Report - Community LeadMr Alan [email protected] Community Outreach Programme workshops continued as normal throughout the year. An official Save AChild’s Life session was launched around Easter 2016 along with the overhauled Community Life Support sessionwhich has been re-branded Save An Adult’s Life. This now makes the full set with a standard format which isessential.The breakdown of sessions that ran in our Branch area during 2016;Trainer Save A Baby’s Life Save A Child’s Life Save An Adult’s Life Sessions Delegates Sessions Delegates Sessions DelegatesAlan WillettsVivien Reeves 21 161 22 84 3 47Andrew Morris 61 386 1 11This gives a total of 108 Save A Life sessions run, attended by 689 people, throughout the Branch area during2016. This compares well with previous years. Thanks once again to everyone, especially Vivien for the highnumber of sessions she delivered. In 2017 I would like to break 1,000 attendees at these sessions, if you wouldlike to get involved as a Trainer please contact me. I’m afraid that as usual you would be delivering the sessionsas a volunteer, however the Branch will certainly pay reasonable expenses such as petrol and parking.In May we were informed that the Branch had been nominated for a Britain Has Spirit Award and had beenshortlisted in the Groups category of the Central Region. There were 2 other groups of volunteers shortlistedalongside us, Avenues Community Association Charity Dreams In Action, and The Regal Theatre Tenbury Wells.Hopefully you were all voting for us! Votes could be cast every 24 hour until Friday 17th June at which point thewinner would be known and they would go forward to the Nationalround against the winners from every other region. Sadly we onlyachieved 2nd place with 32% of the first round vote.The Society’s Open Water Festival took place on 22nd May once againat Ragley Hall. The Branch was asked (at quite short notice) if anyonecould assist with Lifeguard cover and I am glad to say that some of ourmembers were able to step forward.On a damp 12th June the Branch was represented in Cannon Hill Park,Birmingham, for the Lord Mayor’s Parade which was to celebrate theQueen’s 90th birthday and organisations that she is patron of. Thiswas also used as our Branch Challenge for which we will receive £125from RLSS UK. This project was led by Aaron Dhanda with supportfrom Vivien Reeves, Rose Link, Rebecca Presswood and DanielJacklin. Throughout the day members of the public could have a go atthe rope throw challenge and the ring throw game. Some 200 peoplewere give advice on water safety and the SAFE code. We raised £40in donations and raffle ticket sales. The weather was not the best butthe Society’s message was put across.I attended a Lifesaving ‘taster’ event held at Edgbaston High Schoolfor Girls on 28th June. This was organised by Rose Link supported by3 of her Assistant Lifesaving Teachers. Over 40 girls from the prepschool attended to find out what Lifesaving is about. There was ashort chat about general water safety followed by some experience ofcasualty simulation, stroke practice and a variety of land basedrescues. It seemed that the girls enjoyed themselves immenselyjudging by their enthusiasm in shouting for help or instructing eachother what to do. Each girl also received some information about theclub, an RLSS UK sticker and a Lifeguard Sam keyring. This eventwas partly funded by the Branch’s £125 for 125 years offer.In July I was pleased to receive one of the first William Henry Awardsafter reaching the target of 125 points. Vivien Reeves was presentedwith her certificate and badge at the National Conference, I receivedmine at the July Committee meeting presented by Aaron Dhanda.Both of us have been delivering Outreach workshops for some timeand in 2016 each one was worth 5 points so the target was soonreached. Our total points at the end of the year were Vivien 310 ptsand 3rd place nationally, Alan 270 pts and 4th place nationally. Photographs courtesy of Aaron Dhanda & Vivien Reeves 15

On Saturday 13th August the Branch was represented at a water safety event held at Draycote Water. The wholeevent was instigated by Warwickshire Police in response to the number of recent drownings in the area, but hadrepresentatives from a wide range of organisations and groups to make it a fun day out but with a big message.Apart from us there were representatives of the Police, Rural Watch, Canal & River Trust, Fire Service, SevernTrent, Southam Swimming Pool and the Sea Cadets. Representing our Branch at various times of the day wereVivien Reeves, Sarah Page, Susan Clark, Ian Lewis, Joe Elkin, Marian Yates, Polly Scurrah, and Rebecca Ewers.Aaron Dhanda, Community Drowning Prevention Co-ordinator for the area, was also in attendance along withPerry. It was a very busy location with lots of walkers, cyclists, sailors etc, however one thing that is not allowedthere is swimming. The new spot the dangers game was a hit with the younger ones and as usual everyone hada chance to attempt the line throw challenge. A little networking was done amongst the organisations and the fireservice and police were keen in setting up a water safety forum which the Branch would be involved with. Thanksfor giving your precious time to all those who attended on behalf of the Branch.As you may have read in the Finance report, the Branch has part funded a ‘Perry Buoy’ suit (see photo above)with other Branches in the area. If you would like to borrow the suit for a club event etc please contact the BranchChairto check availability and arrange collection / return.We should also have purchased a gazebo by the time you read this (see photo above of similar) so if you have anevent taking place where it could be used again please contact the Branch Chair to check availability and arrangecollection / return.From Aaron DhandaCommunity Drowning Prevention Co-ordinatorWarwickshire Water Safety PartnershipDuring the Draycote Water event, we were able to talk to all of the different organisations about coming togetherto form a partnership to tackle the local drowning issue. This is being formed by RLSS UK, Warwickshire Fire &Rescue Service and Warwickshire Police. The group is currently looking at gathering incident data to help focusour activity.Stay SAFE Birmingham ProjectDuring the summer we saw a high number of drownings across the UK, the majority of these were at the coast.Research from the RNLI shows that a high number of those that lose their lives at the coast come from inlandareas and are not aware of the dangers of open water. A larger proportion of those this year came fromBirmingham. With this knowledge, along with the fact that Birmingham has more waterways than Venice,Birmingham City Council has asked us to help them tackle this issue.RLSS UK, along with the RNLI, has helped to create a set of school Drowning Prevention Resources that aregoing to be used to educate young people within the city of the issue. 16

Committee Report - Sport LeadMrs Sarah [email protected] many competitions in 2016, but the ones held had a good level of entries, and hopefully enjoyed by all whotook part.2017 will see changes to the National Lifesaving Championships, with ‘direct entry (online)’ to Regional Heats,meaning that there will be no Branch Heats. Further details (Rules, Entry Fee etc) will be available soon on theRLSS UK website.If there are any clubs or individuals who do not currently compete, but would like to take part in any of the events,please contact me for more details.Branch Heats (National Lifesaving Championships)Not many entries across the three Branches in the Region. Therefore, everyone automatically qualified for theRegional Heats. But we did hold this event as a practice for the Regionals.Regional Heats (National Lifesaving Championships)Junior Girls1st Rachel Eslick & Grace Jordan (Warwick LSC)Senior Boys Men’s Individual1st Alex Makepeace & Liam Jordan (Solihull LSC) 1st Sam Powell (Warwick LSC)Ladies’ Individual 2nd Dale Stroyde (Birmingham Uni)1st Polly Scurrah (Warwick LSC) 3rd Joseph Elkin (Solihull LSC)2nd Emily Bessant (Warwick LSC)3rd Rebecca Ewers (University of Warwick)5th Maya Wear (Warwick LSC)Ladies Masters 40-49Angela Roberts – auto qualified for the FinalNational Final (National Lifesaving Championships)I was not able to attend this event. But I understand a great time was had by all. Congratulations and Well Doneto everyone who took part.Junior Girls11th Grace Jordan & Rachel EslickSenior Boys5th Alex Makepeace & Liam Jordan (3rd in Line Throw)Ladies Individual Mens Individual10th Polly Scurrah 15th Sam PowellLadies Masters 40-491st Angela Roberts (Aquatic 1st, Life Support 3rd, Line Throw 2nd, Swim & Tow 2nd)Regional Rookie GalaVery well attended, but only one team from Warwickshire. 13 teams in total.Under 11yrs Under 14yrs1st Redditch LSC ‘1’ 1st South Worcester LSC ‘1’2nd South Worcester LSC 2nd Redditch LSC ‘1’3rd Redditch ‘2’ 3rd South Worcester LSC ‘2’ 8th Edgbaston High School 17

Committee Report - Club [email protected] post has been vacant during 2016 – If you are interested in taking on this role please contact theBranch Chair.Committee Report - [email protected] post has been vacant during 2016 – If you are interested in taking on this role please contact theBranch Chair.Branch Awards Trophy Winners & League TablesFor awards taken during 2016Birmingham Clubs Life Support Salver Life Saving ShieldWarwickshire Clubs Solihull Life Saving Club Solihull Life Saving ClubSchools Warwick Life Saving Club Warwick Life Saving ClubUniversities & Colleges Warwick School Warwick SchoolCommercial Centres University of Birmingham LSC University of Birmingham LSC Beeches Pool & Fitness Centre Coventry Sports & Leisure CentreTrophies not collected at the 2017 Branch AGM will be presented by the Branch President to the Clubs / Classes at their club at a mutually acceptable timeLife Support Pts Life Saving PtsBirmingham Clubs Birmingham ClubsSolihull Lifesaving Club 370Northfield Lifesaving Club 100 Solihull Lifesaving Club 285Birmingham Lifesaving Class 25 Northfield Lifesaving Club 10 Birmingham Lifesaving Class 40Warwickshire Clubs Warwickshire Clubs 205Warwick Life Saving Club 40 Warwick Life Saving ClubSchools SchoolsWarwick SchoolEdgbaston High School For Girls 795 Warwick School 195Universities & Colleges 160 Edgbaston High School For Girls 135University of Birmingham Lifesaving ClubWarwick Sport Lifesaving Club Solihull School 120Commercial Centres King Edward’s School 60Beeches Pool & Fitness Centre 300 125 Universities & Colleges University of Birmingham Lifesaving Club 375 Warwick Sport Lifesaving Club 285 25 University of Birmingham Sport 60 Commercial Centres 330 Coventry Sports & Leisure Centre 300 M E B Training 165 Erdington Pool & Turkish Suite 135 Nuffield Health & Fitness Wellbeing 120 Fox Hollies Leisure Centre 105 Sean Kelly Training Rugby School Sports Centre 90 AOK Training 75 Tiverton Pool & Fitness Centre 60 Beeches Pool & Fitness Centre 60 Newtown Pool 45 North Solihull Sports Centre 30N.B. Calculated from figures supplied by RLSS UK on 15th March 2017 and clarified on 24th March 2017 18

The Russell MedalMr Tony [email protected] Russell Medal was established in 2000 as a tribute to the late Pat Russell as a long term reminder of hercommitment to and her active role in the RLSS UK generally and Warwickshire Branch specifically.There were 2 nominations for the 2015 medal which was presented this year. After due deliberation by the variousparties involved it was decided the medal should go to Mr Tyler Bailer from Canada. The citation put forward was;“At around 10.00pm on 4th July 2015, Tyler Bailer, a 17-year-old RLSS trained lifeguard from Canada, was athome with his mother and stepfather. He heard his mother shout for him and he ran up the stairs to see his step-father David lying on the floor, not breathing. His mother had already called 911 so Tyler immediately startedCPR. Tyler continued with CPR for about 6 minutes until the ambulance crew arrived. David had experienced acardio-myopathy event (heart failure) and 4 EMTs had to work on him for 45 minutes before they got a steadypulse. The Emergency Room staff managed to stabilize David’s condition and transfer him to another hospital,and he has now fully recovered.Many of the health professionals asked who had performed the initial CPR and commented on how skilfully hehad administered it for the first time, especially on a family member and without any injury to the patient. He did,in fact, save his step-fathers life.”We hope you agree that Tyler is as worthy recipient of this medal.To make this one even more memorable, as it was presented in the 125th year of the Society it was arranged for thepresentation to be made by the Society’s Patron Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.This is a perfect example to support the earlier article by our Honorary Medical Adviser Prof Gavin Perkins.Details of the medal, nomination criteria and a nomination form download can be found by clicking onhttp://www.rlsscommonwealth.org/rlss-awards/the-russell-medal/ 19

Club Report - Birmingham LifeguardsMr Dan EarthquakeWe covered three events this year: safety cover for Erdington Strokes Lifesaving Class – introducing some of theyoung people to open water for the first time; swimming at Ragley Hall for the RLSS UK & the BRAT triathlon atCliff Lakes. RLSS UK are yet to forward the donation promised for our attendance.Last year RLSS UK cut the ERAS programme without any consultation. This was our most useful qualification,being popular with triathlon clubs & our own members. In the past we used the Beach Lifeguard qualificationInland module, but this was also disposed of. NBLQ at the coast is cost & time prohibitive for most of ourmembers & obviously the coastal emphasis is not needed for our usual activities. The suggested replacementcourse for ERAS was considered, but deemed to be expensive & unsuitable for our purposes. It has taken a lot oftime & effort to source alternatives & take the appropriate action.A few members took the RLSS UK Open Water Lifeguard module (which has an NPLQ prerequisite) as an interimmeasure, though this is a much more basic course than ERAS was. Some made the conversion to the STA &gained tutor status to deliver the Open Water Safety qualification. This has proved useful with some memberstaking this route with others following. Additionally contact with the British Canoe Union has been made. 1 BCUAssistant Lifeguard award has been gained with skills to be logged to gain the Core Lifeguard qualification. 1instructor is pursuing tutor status with the intention of being able to deliver the Swim Event Safety Award (SESA)which is the BCU version of the ERAS/OWS qualification, obviously with an emphasis on water craft use.Training continues at Swan Pool over the winter on pre-arranged dates. Some other sessions were undertaken atcommercial facilities over the summer which proved to be useful.Club Report - Edgbaston High School for GirlsMrs Rose LinkIn January Bethany Lucas, Hannah Lait, Cerys Stotts and Marium Khan attended the Assistant Teacher Courseheld at KEHS which meant that after Easter they were ready to teach the younger members at the club.In March 2016 the school hosted the Junior Splash Competition and it was attended by King Edward High Schoolfor Girls as well. With only two teams competing, the atmosphere wasn’t the usual buzz but it gave the parentsan opportunity to see what the girls learn at their club. Also thanks to the members of the University ofBirmingham Lifesaving Club who attended to help us out.By the end of the academic year the girls achieved their Rookie Lifeguard awards and we also hosted a tastersession for the Prep Girls in celebration of the 125 years of the RLSS. We welcomed Alan Willetts from RLSS UKWarwickshire and over 40 girls came along to find out what lifesaving was all about. The event was a hugesuccess and thanks to Alan, who found himself also teaching a group on poolside.In September we welcomed five new members to the club and Bethany Lucas was named our Lifesaving Captainfor the year. Due to the girls taking part in the competition earlier in the year they were keen to attend the RookieChallenge held at the Droitwich Leisure Centre. Thanks to Cerys Stotts for coming to also help out on theevening and the team really enjoyed the event.Also in November six of our members achieved their Bronze Medallion award; Eve Newland, Hannah Foy, MiaNicholson, Tiana Uppal, Millie Berry and Emily Morgan. These girls are now looking forward to training for theirSilver and along with Natasha Carmichael and Teri Lee achieving their Assistant Lifesaving Teacher status. 20

Club Report - King Edward VI High School for GirlsMrs Rose LinkThe lifesaving lunchtime club has attracted many girls and with the help of the Assistant Teachers they continueto learn the skills required for the different levels of the awards.In January we ran another Assistant Teacher Course at the school with the help of Derrick Beckett from NorthfieldLifesaving Club and members from his club also attended. Four new teachers were trained; Georgina Bocking,Saffron Mair, Raina Stotts and Maisie Shay and were ready to teach the younger girls by Easter.The club also entered a team to compete at the Junior and Novice Splash held at Edgbaston High School andachieved first place.In March Molly Sanders and Maddy Shay achieved their Bronze Medallion award.In September nine year seven girls joined the lifesaving club and as we lost three of our teachers to University wehave managed to recruit Anya Basra to help out with Maisie Shay in teaching the girls their Lifesaving 1, 2 & 3.By the end of the year all the year 7 girls have achieved their Lifesaving 1.Club Report - North Birmingham Swimming & LifeSaving ClubMrs Elaine NixonBetty and Brian Dawson decided to fully retire from the club after many years of outstanding service. They havebeen members of the RLSS UK for so long and have taught many youngsters lifesaving skills throughout theyears. Betty and Brian have also supported so many of us with our teaching and lifesaving skills. I know I will missthem but I also know everyone wishes them well and we hope they will continue to call in and offer support to usall.Our club teachers continue to offer all levels of Rookie to run alongside the ASA National Plan. This means it isintroduced at a very young age and we hope it will educate our youngsters as they progress with their swimming.All of our teachers are committed to ensuring safety around water and I think this shows in our children.When the children finish their formal swimming lessons we now offer the more advanced group the chance to dolife support and basic first aid, this is hopefully making the older groups more interested in staying with us andprogressing on to the NPLQ course.We have had a number of our lifeguards successfully retake their NPLQ qualification this year and have a newcourse taking place at the moment with 8 of our youngsters. We are hoping they will stay with us to help lifeguardand maybe progress on to the assistant teacher course as we find it increasingly difficult to get any new qualifiedvolunteers.Having said that we have a healthy membership and also have a waiting list of people wanting to join us. 21

Club Report - Northfield Life Saving ClubMr Jonathan StantonIt has been a bit of a turbulent year at the club, at the start of the year we moved to a newlocation, the Blue Coat School in Harborne, and whilst we have now much better facilitieswe lost a large number of our regular members. We still meet on Wednesday eveningsbetween 19:00 and 21:00 during school term times.Derrick ran an Assistant Teachers course and three of our more experienced membersattended and now have qualified and are running their own groups.We have proactively marketed the club with both flyers and on Facebook through the year and have gained anumber of new members, we are now having 16 – 17 members regularly attending however we are pushing toget this number up to 25. Please pass on our details if you know of anybody looking for a club to join(www.facebook.com/HarborneLifesaving)We are also on the lookout for new adults to join the committee. While we regularly have 3-4 adults attend eachweek, running the club and teaching classes, we need to make sure that we can keep the leadership teamhealthy. Please contact me if you would like more information ([email protected])Club Report - Solihull Life Saving ClubMr Anthony Dean2016 was for Solihull Lifesaving Club a year to review and rebuild for the future.Membership has been dropping in the younger age groups, causing a concern for thefuture health of the club. Our teaching group has been strengthened with the qualificationof Tom Galeford and Joe Elkin as Survive and Save Instructors. Our senior students havealso been keen to help with teaching, both in the pool and dry side.We will be focusing in 2017 on increasing our Rookie numbers by working with local Junior schools, running ourfirst Save a Baby’s Life course open to the public at a local supermarket, offering Duke of Edinburgh training andtraining our senior students as Assistant Teachers.Highlights of the year included our first student, Bella Trett achieving her Gold Medallion and the BranchPresident John Long and Branch Chair Vivien Reeves presenting us with the Branch Trophy for most Life Savingawards points gained in 2015. 22

Club Report - Warwick Life Saving ClubMrs Vivien ReevesWe have had another busy year at the club. The lifesaving section of Stratford Sharksclosed at the end of 2015, and many of their members joined us to continue with theirawards which swelled our numbers. We still have good numbers at juniors and they areall working hard to gain their Rookie awards.One of the parents, Gill Cleeve, decided to attend, and passed a Rookie Instructorscourse and is now a regular trainer with the juniors along with our two Assistant LifesavingInstructors. Two of our senior club also help with the Rookie training.In August some of the club members attended a Drowning Prevention day at Draycote Water, near Rugby, givingout water safety messages and promoting the club. Then in September we attended the Rotary Club’s DragonBoat Race event in St.Nicholas Park, Warwick. We spoke to lots of people on the day about water safety andmembers of the public could have a go at line throwing and a children’s water safety game. I hope that we canattend this event again in 2017.As the Royal Life Saving Society celebrated it’s 125th birthday this year, the Warwickshire Branch Committeedecided to offer all active clubs £125 for equipment and we purchased an Automated External Defibrillator trainerunit. We also received the second £125 offered for organising our stand at the Dragon Boat Race and intend touse this to purchase more fins for the sport awards.We are still having problems getting members to take part in team events, so we will be concentrating on morecompetitive training next year to build up members’ confidence.We did have members participate in the Nationals this year, Maya Wear & Emily Bessant in the Individuals & thefollowing making it to the finals, Grace Jordan & Rachel Eslick in the pairs, Polly Scurrah in the Ladies Open &Sam Powell in the Men’s Open, no medals this year but well done for taking part. County Colours awarded toSam Powell & Maya Wear.However we did have a large entry into our club Annual Individual Gala at the end of the year, with trophies andmedals awarded in six age groups.As the RLSS birthday celebrations continued, the Commonwealth President, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, gaveout 125 Certificates of Merit to members from around the Commonwealth. Our Club President, John Long, and Iwere very honoured to each receive one of these certificates, especially as we were both from the same club. Itook Sarah as my guest and John and I were presented with our certificates by Prince Michael at the RoyalOverseas League in London. We then attended an evening reception at Buckingham Palace. We all met HerMajesty the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. We had a really wonderful time and something wewill always remember.Jon Belcher received an RLSS UK National Honour, a bar to his Certificate of Thanks for his continuing work.A huge thank you to all who help teach at club, if you have helped at any of the Drowning Prevention events,been timekeepers, kept score at events, sold raffle tickets, taken the subs each week, the members for turning upeach week and the parents who bring them, your help & support is greatly appreciated. 23

Club Report - Warwick SchoolMrs Marian YatesAnother enjoyable year watching students ranging from 13 to 17 develop their skills in the water, increase theirfitness and understand the theory basis of first aid. The School has continued to teach Life Support skills to anentire year group, as part of the programme of activities. This means that the majority of students learn CPR andbasic First Aid at some time during their life at Warwick School.A number of changes to the school day have meant that the time available for club activities is much reduced.This has meant that the way the Medallion Awards are structured (ie skills based) has been very helpful in termsof planning the way that students learn. The club members are self-motivated and keen to move on to new skills.They learn from each other and assist each other through all the sections of the Medallion. Some students – forexample those who have Lifesaving as a sport for their PE GCSE – make very fast progress through the waterwork. They are less keen on learning the theory, so I offer dedicated lunch time sessions, and this helps themcomplete their Medallion assessments.The School was very pleased to welcome Branch President John Long and Branch Chair Vivien Reeves to anassembly in order to present Branch trophies to members of the lifesaving club. Apart from congratulating theschool, John spoke some encouraging words about the benefits of learning lifesaving skills, and this resulted insome renewed interest in the club – so a very worthwhile visit.I am pleased that the school club continues to have a good relationship with Warwick Lifesaving Club as thismeans I can easily talk through any developments with other trainers.Despite the reduced numbers, due to the restricted time available, the club continues to have a dedicated groupwho attend regularly, and I hope that this will continue for a few years yet.Club Report - Warwick Sport Life SavingClubEmma BithellAt the University of Warwick Lifesaving Club we have two main focuses: one being our focus as a sports club toprogress in the university league and send as many people as we can to RLSS competitions, and the second ourvolunteer work on campus and in the surrounding area.In 2015/16, Warwick came 5th in both the A and B leagues for the year overall including a win at the Londoncompetition for our A team. Our A team also came first in the wet SERC at Student Championships. As well asour club achievements several of our members qualified for events at the regional and national speedschampionships and three of our members competed at the Lifesaving World Championships.With several of our members trained as Community or Lifesaving Instructors we also started a new venture calledYoung Lifesavers where our members went out to Scout and Guide groups to teach CPR. This volunteering workled to us being shortlisted for volunteering sports club of the year. Although in the end we didn't win, we taught avaluable skill to many young people and adults that one day may enable them to save a life.Club Reports Not ReceivedThe following Clubs currently in membership of the Branch did not submit a report for 2016Birmingham Lifesaving ClassUniversity of Birmingham LSC End of RLSS UK Warwickshire Branch Annual Report 2016 24

Attendance at Branch AGM 2017 (details on page 3)In order to assist with the organisation of the Branch Annual General Meeting, will you please complete the tear-off below and return it to:Mrs Vivien Reeves, Warwickshire Branch Chair, 19 Dodd Avenue, Warwick, CV34 6QRor if you prefer, by email to [email protected] be received by 23rd April 2017 latestPlease delete one of the following (*);* I will be attending the Warwickshire Branch Annual General Meeting 2017 on 8th June* I will not be attending the Warwickshire Branch Annual General Meeting 2017 on 8th JuneIf you are not going to attend please still let us know by emailName: 3Society No:Membership expiry date:Email:(please complete clearly) 25