Tragic teen's death prompts Chesterfield councillor to champion children’s swimming

Councillor Lud Ramsey, Derbyshire County Council member for Spire ward, is working with schools in the area to help children get two swimming lessons a week, equipping them with essential skills and water safety knowledge.

He made the move following the death of 14-year-old Logan Folger, who drowned in August last year trying to save a friend from Chesterfield Canal, in Staveley.

Coun Ramsey said lot children can’t swim because they know too little about water safety.

“We have had a number of deaths last year, one in Staveley, and there’s been quite a few around Derbyshire.

“I wanted to give the kids in all my area the opportunity to have two lessons a week,” he added.

Coun Ramsey said children currently get one lesson week through school from year four onwards, but this is not enough to make them truly competent in the water.

He added that many youngsters have missed out on lessons altogether during the pandemic, so to help them he has used the funding available to him as a councillor to heavily supplement the cost of swimming lessons, with parents asked to contribute £1 a week towards a set of swimming lessons at Queen’s Park Leisure Centre on Saturdays and Sundays.

Hady Primary School has been the first to see its year five and six children graduate the programme.

Coun Ramsey said: “At the beginning, a lot of the children were petrified of the water.

“Even with one lesson a week, they were still very tentative.”

By the end of the 11-week course however, the youngsters had safety skills and were able to swim up to 25 yards.

Fellow Labour county councillor Anne Hayes, who represents Staveley, has also begun implementing the scheme in her area, with youngsters from Duckmanton Primary School attending extra swimming lessons at the Healthy Living Centre, in Staveley.

After Easter, the scheme will start at Spire Junior School and Abercrombie Primary School, and Coun Ramsey hopes he can encourage other councillors to use their funds to implement it in their areas as well.