Drowning Prevention Week - 13 to 20 June 2026
In July 2023, the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD) published its thematic report Deaths of children and young people due to traumatic incidents, which highlighted evidence of an increase in the number of child drowning deaths in England, from 20 in 2019-20 to 37 in 2021-22.
Child Drowning Update September 2024: England | Royal Life Saving Society UK ( RLSS UK )
Their latest briefing Child drowning deaths – 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2025 builds on the findings of the report and reinforces the recommendations made.
Child drowning deaths 2019-2025
NHS Thames Valley ICB are championing resources to reach all, with a focus on parents and carers of children under 5, individuals aged between 13-17 years old and those with additional needs.
Save the date for 2026: 13 to 20 June 2026
Get involved
Drowning Prevention Week (DPW) is the RNLI’s biggest campaign of the year, targeting families, carers, teachers and instructors of children aged five to fifteen years old, with the aim of educating them about water safety.
No child should drown, and with the right water safety education – such as knowledge of the Water Safety Code – accidental drownings are preventable.
Please help spread the word and encourage everyone to have the water safety conversation with children. DPW is critical in raising awareness and encouraging the public to enjoy water safely.
Royal Life Saving Society UK's Drowning Prevention Week
Share the water safety code The Water Safety Code | Royal Life Saving Society UK ( RLSS UK ) which includes a cartoon video.
The facts:
A lack of supervision remains a contributory factor across all accidental child drownings, and where recorded, 86% occurred when the child was unsupervised by an adult.
2 in 3 children that drowned at home did so in the bath – this totalled 35 deaths in four years.
In total there were 125 child drowning deaths in England between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2023. 71% of these were male children.
Of these:
43% were under 5 years old
16% were 5 – 12 years old
41% were 13 – 17 years old
Thames Valley ICB have put together some slides in the presentation document below which contain useful resources/assets to help promote water safety for Drowning Prevention Week 2026 and throughout the rest of the year.
Drowning prevention week 2026