KEYNSHAM Life Saving Club is celebrating double recognition from the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK).
As well as eight volunteers receiving individual honours, the club has been given a national award for open-water training.
Andrew, Annabel, Blondie, Laurie, Louise, Sarah, Sarah and Trevor each received a certificate of merit in recognition of their outstanding commitment and contribution to the club.
Between them, they have supported every aspect of club life, from instructing at weekly training sessions and providing safety cover for open-water activities, to volunteering behind the scenes as secretary and treasurer.
In addition, the club has been awarded the RLSS Stuart Bailey Trophy for “outstanding work in an open water environment.”
This national award recognises the club’s long-standing commitment to developing safe, high-quality open-water training opportunities for its members.
Over the past seven years, the club has enabled young people to apply their pool-based lifesaving skills in real-world environments including rivers, lakes and the sea.
In 2024, five volunteers completed the National Water Safety Management Programme 2.0 qualification. This enabled the club to run six popular and successful sessions on the River Avon in Saltford in June and July, with 50 bookings in total.
The club’s instructors delivered a training programme suitable for both experienced lifesavers and those new to open-water environments.
Building on the skills developed during regular pool sessions at Keynsham Leisure Centre, participants began by identifying key hazards and open-water features at the site, including a visit to a lock and a weir.
Training then progressed to basic land-based rescues using buoyant aids, ropes and throw-bags, before members acclimatised to the water and practised more advanced techniques such as wading rescues, the HELP position and towing with torpedo buoys.
Later sessions included practising different water entries, with an elevated platform constructed to allow safe entry from height, and the opportunity to use Malibu rescue boards and surf skis.
Keynsham Life Saving Club trains at Keynsham Leisure Centre from 2pm to 4pm on Sundays during term time. For more information about the club, visit www.klsc.co.uk
Pictured, Annabel, Laurie, Blondie and Trevor, of Keynsham Life Saving Club, receive the club’s award from Jill Bailey, the widow of the late Stuart Bailey, who the award memorialises
Keynsham life-savers’ double celebration
