UPDATE Youth Advisor

Hi! I am Siân and I am one of the RLSS UK Youth Advisors. I moved to Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland three years ago to study at the University of the Highlands and Islands, which is great! There’s loads of beautiful Lochs and rivers so I can do the activities I enjoy such as open water swimming.

I have been involved in lifesaving on and off since a young age, participating in youth groups where I completed my silver survival and then going on to complete my NPLQ a few years ago. However, when I moved to the Highlands I realised there were next to no opportunities for young people to get involved in activities such as Rookie or the National Lifesaving Academy. For an area where there is a lot of water this surprised me.

As a Youth Advisor, I have made it my goal to start a Rookie club in my town. I have been lucky that where I live, I have managed to meet so many people who support this idea and are willing to help implement this for the young people in the area, with many being ex-lifeguards, and some who are even currently active lifeguards who I have the pleasure to work alongside in our local leisure centre.

A note from Sheena and Helen:

‘It has been a pleasure as part of the pilot coordinating group to work with Sian to develop a new hub of lifesaving activity within the Fort William area. Through the pilot group we have been able to provide her with more local links to support a new club. If you would like support, please contact us via our email address admin@rlssuk-dns.co.uk or our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/rlssukpilot, we look forward to working with you as well.

Remember we also run monthly online networking events which may prove useful, please contact us for further details.’

Sheena and Helen, Pilot Group

In the future as this continues developing, slowly, but surely, I hope to grow and expand it, hopefully encouraging other towns in the Highlands to jump on board. I have been incredibly lucky to have the support of not just the other young ambassadors but as I live in Scotland, I have the amazing support of those on the Pilot Coordinating Group, which has given me access to so many wonderful people all across Durham, Northumberland & Scotland! I am also incredibly lucky to have an established Hub not that far away in Oban which I can potentially link up with once we have a club up and running. This has all given me a huge boost and determination to help spread lifesaving as far as I possibly can - maybe I will even reach the Islands!