Don’t Drink and Drown Campaign Supporter Pack 21-27 September 2026
Contents This campaign supporter pack contains Don’t Drink and Drown assets for your organisation to support the campaign and the life-saving work that the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) does across the UK and Ireland to prevent drowning and educate people on how to enjoy water safely. Please feel free to use our resources to join in with the campaign and help RLSS UK save lives. About RLSS UK
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About Don’t Drink and Drown
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Key Messages
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Share Socials
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Campaign Videos
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Campaign Toolkit
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Drowning Facts
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Copyright statement
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Dual branding instructions
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
For over 135 years, the Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK) has shared its expertise in water safety, lifesaving, and lifeguarding to help everyone enjoy water safely. Our charity is honoured to have 18,633 members who volunteer and work with us to create communities free from drowning. Over the last five years, 3,615 people have fatally drowned in the UK and Ireland. The RLSS UK aims to prevent these tragedies through high-quality water safety education. 46% of accidental drownings in those ages 18-25 involve alcohol and/or drugs[1] — and many incidents happen simply while walking near water, not intending to enter it at all.
[1] Source: WAID (2018-2023) [2] Source: WAID (2018-2023)
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
The equivalent of a university seminar group loses their lives to accidental drowning every year, where alcohol or drugs were suspected [2]
About Don’t Drink and Drown Don’t Drink and Drown is a national campaign focused on reducing the number of substance-related drownings across the UK and Ireland. The Don’t Drink and Drown campaign encourages individuals to take responsibility for their friends when under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, helping them to avoid dangerous routes by water and return home safely. During 21-27 September, the campaign focuses on sharing important water safety advice with university students who are starting or returning to university life and will be enjoying their Welcome Week and Freshers season. In 2026, we hope even more partners will take action by sharing our water safety messages and resources. By working together, we can ensure that every young adult and student learns how to enjoy water safely, reducing drowning incidents across the UK and Ireland. Achievements from 2025: • Our water safety messaging reached over 140,000 students on social media • Our Don’t Drink and Drown video resonated deeply with the 40,000 people who watched it. • Our Don’t Drink and Drown video was shortlisted for a Smile Charity Award.
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
Be a Mate. Look out for your friends and make sure they get home safely.
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If you’ve had a drink, stay away from the edge. Find an alternative route home away from open water. Being under the influence increases your risk of drowning. Drinking alcohol limits muscle ability, slows reactions and numbs the senses, making swimming very difficult. Many people who drown never intended to enter the water. Most incidents occur in everyday social environments when alcohol, reduced awareness, darkness, unfamiliar surroundings, and proximity to water combine. If someone does fall in, do not get into the water to attempt a rescue. Instead, phone the emergency services on 999 and call for help, tell the person to float on their back, and throw something that floats, like a plastic bottle, to them. Our key message for students is to #BeAMate and don’t let your friends walk home alone – especially by water.
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
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Key Messages
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Share your support for Don’t Drink and Drown on your socials! Use the hashtags:
#BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown Make sure to tag us in your posts
@RLSSUK
You can find us on:
To make it easy to get involved, we have created a suite of pre‑made social media graphics you can use to show your support for, or participation in, Don’t Drink and Drown. These can be found in the Toolkit provided on page 8.
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
Campaign Video Please feel free to share our campaign videos during Don’t Drink and Drown. We’ll be posting these on our social media channels starting 21 September. We’d be grateful if you could help amplify the campaign by sharing the videos along with our recommended social media messaging (feel free to tailor the wording).
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
Campaign Toolkit In 2025, we reached more than 66,000 people on social media with our free resources and water safety messaging, showing the campaign’s strong impact. By supporting Don’t Drink and Drown, partners take a vital step toward spreading vital water safety messages even further, reaching more students and communities, and preventing avoidable tragedies. We ask that you commit to sharing our messages and resources with your networks and audiences and to actively promoting vital water safety advice. Your involvement can make a real difference. Together, we will equip every student and young adult with the skills to enjoy water safely and reduce drowning across the UK and Ireland. Click below to access your Don’t Drink and Drown support resources.
Click below to access your Don’t Drink and Drown supporter resources.
Supporting logo
Digital screens (zip file)
Joint press release
Social media assets
A4 poster
Donate to support our water safety education work
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
More Don’t Drink and Drown marketing assets and water safety advice materials, such as leaflets, pull-up banners and stickers
Drowning Facts Last year in England, there were 38 accidental drownings involving alcohol and/or drugs [3]. Despite this alarming statistic, three in four young adult drinkers think it is okay to drink alcohol and get into the water [4]. 46% of accidental drownings in those ages 18-25 involve alcohol and/or drugs [5] — and many incidents happen simply while walking near water, not intending to enter it at all. The equivalent of a university seminar group loses their lives to accidental drowning every year where alcohol or drugs were suspected. 4 in 10 alcohol or drug linked drownings were among under 29s[6]. [3]
NWSF’s WAID 2025
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One Poll (2024), a UK nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+
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Source: WAID (2018-2023)
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Source: WAID 2025
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
Copyright Statement Please use official campaign assets as supplied and do not create Ai-generated or otherwise recreated versions. All artworks have been developed to communicate water safety messages accurately and consistently and are protected by copyrighted intellectual property of RLSS UK.
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Cheap drinks by the water can cost more than you think. Stay Away from the Edge. TAXI
#BeAMate
Stay together . Get home
safely.
When someone’s getting too close to the edge #BeAMate.
Supported by
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Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September
Dual branding Please follow this instructions on how to use our dual branded assets.
1 - Open the PDF in Acrobat
4 - Navigate through your files to upload your logo and click select
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2 - Click the image box
5 - Your logo will now be placed into the logo box.
Don’t Drink and Drown 2026, 21-27 September #BeAMate #DontDrinkAndDrown
3 - That action opens the image selection dialogue box - next, select browse
To export as a JPEG: File > Export a PDF > Image > JPEG To save as PDF: Close Acrobat and click Save
RLSS UK, Red Hill House, 227 London Road, Worcestershire WR5 2JG rlss.org.uk | info@rlss.org.uk | 0300 3230 096
Registered Charity (England and Wales 1046060, Scotland SC037912). Private Limited by Guarantee Company (3033781).
Sources: WAID (2018-2023) WAID (2018-2023) [3] NWSF’s WAID 2025 [4] One Poll (2024), a UK nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+ [5] WAID (2018-2023) [6] WAID 2025 [1]
[2]