Raising swimming levels in the Black Country

We are pleased to announce that Aspire Active Education Group has partnered with Speedo Swim United and Active Black Country to launch a pop-up primary school pool scheme to address low swimming attainment levels in the Black Country. Recent Sport England statistics reveal that almost one in three (28%) children are leaving primary school unable to swim, up from one in four (25%) in 2022. In the Black Country, an average of six in ten pupils in previous years could swim 25 metres, dropping to fewer than five in ten in 2022 following the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Thanks to the funding provided by Speedo Swim United, in partnership with not-for-profit organisation Active Black Country, Aspire Active Education will be providing supervised lessons in pop-up pools across eight schools over the next four months. We aim to help up to 1000 pupils improve their swimming skills while promoting water safety and drowning prevention and increasing participation in swimming among young people in the Black Country.

We are passionate about helping young people become more active, confident, and safe in the water. The pop-up pool scheme is an innovative approach to achieving this goal. Our qualified lifeguards and swimming teachers will aim to ensure that each child learns to swim at least 25 metres and understands how to self-rescue in water.

We are grateful for the support of Speedo Swim United and our partners' commitment to improving swimming attainment levels through this program. Swim stars Adam Peaty, Ellie Simmonds, and Michael Gunning have also endorsed this project, officially launched on Wednesday at Shireland Hall Primary School, Smethwick.

As programme lead Andy Heald stated, "Thanks to the support of Speedo Swim United and our partners, we will not only increase swimming time for schools but also be able to collate data that shows the impact made by tackling swimming attainment levels through the program. We want more young people to be able to swim, be more confident in the water, and be more aware of safety through this collaborative approach."

Director Paul Griffiths added, "Aspire is proud to empower primary school children to become confident and skilled swimmers. Our goal in everything we do is to get more young people active, so we are delighted to work with Speedo Swim United and Active Black Country to promote water safety and drowning prevention."

We are excited to positively impact the lives of young people in the Black Country and look forward to continuing to work with our partners to achieve this goal.