Use our free, downloadable lesson plans, activities and resources to teach young people how to be safe in, on and around the water, and what to do if anything goes wrong.
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RNLI Water Safety: Young Adults Programme
Our free 1-day course to help 16-25-year old students develop transferable skills and water safety awareness as they prepare to leave education and go to work.
The RNLI Young Adults Programme is run by two volunteer RNLI facilitators during term time at further and higher education settings across the UK and Ireland.
The free programme, which includes a tutorial and a practical workshop, is designed to help students develop and practise a variety of transferable skills in a fictional but authentic search and rescue scenario as they make, or prepare to make, the transition from education to employment.
You can learn more about the programme below. To discuss availability, please get in touch with our Water Safety Team.
Reaching those at risk around water
Statistics show that young people aged 16–25 are at risk around water, whether that’s a river, quarry or coastal area. The RNLI Young Adults Programme raises water safety awareness within this highly vulnerable, but highly receptive, group by embedding it into the relevant part of their course.
What’s included in the programme?
The RNLI Young Adults Programme has two core components - a tutorial and a practical workshop - which are interdependent. The programme takes less than a day to complete and works best when the tutorial and workshop are run on consecutive mornings or afternoons.
The programme is delivered face-to-face by a volunteer RNLI facilitator. It takes place in either a lecture theatre or a room at the students’ further or higher education setting, depending on the number of attendees.
Risk Awareness and Risk Management Tutorial
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1-hour tutorial
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Transferable skills:
- risk awareness
- behavioural safety
- decision making
- personal responsibility.
Learning Objective
The tutorial is designed to help students develop a greater understanding of the transferable skills listed above in the context of staying safe when around inland and coastal waters.
It’s an essential primer for students attending the workshop but is also open to all students on campus as part of a college induction, safeguarding or social event.
Leadership and Teamwork Workshop
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2.5-hour workshop
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Number of students:
Minimum 18 | Maximum 36 working in groups of 6
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Transferable skills:
- leadership
- teamwork
- communication and information sharing
- problem solving, decision making and objective setting
- situation and risk management, including assessment and awareness
- personal and social responsibility
- media handling.
Learning Objective
The workshop is built around the RNLI’s experience in leadership, teamwork and risk assessment, immersing students in a fictional but authentic search and rescue scenario. It gives them a real-world experience of making decisions under pressure and within a team.
Get your students on the map!
This map shows where the RNLI Young Adults Programme has been delivered so far - and the breadth of our work to equip students with lifesaving water safety knowledge and transferable skills including teamwork and leadership.
Select a pin on the map to see the location. You can also browse an accessible list of locations where our programme has already been delivered below the map.
Locations where the RNLI Water Safety Young Adults Programme has been delivered
- Barking and Dagenham, London
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Bedfordshire (various)
- Bicton, Devon
- Bodmin, Cornwall
- Buckinghamshire (various)
- Calderdale, West Yorkshire
- Chelmsford, Essex
- Chesterfield, Derbyshire
- Colchester, Essex
- Crewe, Cheshire
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
- Dudley, West Midlands
- Durham (various)
- Exeter, Devon
- Havering, London
- Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
- Hull, East Yorkshire
- Keighley, West Yorkshire
- King’s Lynn, Norfolk
- Leicester, Leicestershire
- Plymouth, Devon
- Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire
- Sheffield, South Yorkshire
- South Benfleet, Essex
- Southend-on-Sea, Essex
- Stevenage, Hertfordshire
- Wakefield, West Yorkshire
- Wareham, Dorset
- Coleraine, County Londonderry
- Bishopstown, County Cork
- Cork, County Cork
- Galway, County Galway
- Kinsale, County Cork
- Limerick, County Limerick
- Poolbeg, Dublin
- Deeside, Flintshire
- Rhyl, Denbighshire
Feeling inspired?
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer facilitator for the RNLI Water Safety Young Adults Programme, please get in touch with our Water Safety Team.
As a lifesaving charity, we believe in prioritising the safety and welfare of our people. And sometimes this means we need to do more to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Learn more and access our Safeguarding Policy.
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Our Water Safety Team are here to help you teach the children in your classroom or youth group how to stay safe, in and around the water.
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