We've arrived: free one-to-one swim teaching for physically disabled kids.
Level Water gives children with a physical disability a fair start in sport. We provide free one-to-one teaching for children who have not been able to access mainstream swimming lessons. We work with children aged between 4 and 11.
It can be hard for disabled children to get started in sport.
Only one in every eight disabled children are members of sports clubs, compared to one in two non-disabled children. Some primary schools struggle to deliver fully inclusive sport with limited resources, and some do not take disabled children to swimming lessons at all. It is not simple for disabled children to play popular team sports like football or netball with their friends, and sometimes families choose to keep their children away from sport.
Swimming is the number one sport that disabled people wish to pursue. Guidance around disabled swim teaching is essentially that swim schools should adapt and adjust existing provision to make it inclusive. However, it is difficult for swim schools to offer high teacher-to-pupil ratios for disabled children, and some disabled children are even turned away from swimming lessons.
More and more swimming clubs are now offering disabled teaching, but many are at full capacity and have waiting lists of children who wish to learn to swim. These clubs offer a fantastic service which is often on the borderline between sport and therapy. They often offer one session per week, the majority of their participants have complex physical and cognitive disabilities and few of their participants progress to competitive swimming. Level Water's focus is on developing swimmers who are likely to move on to competitive swimming in mainstream clubs.
Swimming is the number one sport that disabled people wish to pursue. Guidance around disabled swim teaching is essentially that swim schools should adapt and adjust existing provision to make it inclusive. However, it is difficult for swim schools to offer high teacher-to-pupil ratios for disabled children, and some disabled children are even turned away from swimming lessons.
More and more swimming clubs are now offering disabled teaching, but many are at full capacity and have waiting lists of children who wish to learn to swim. These clubs offer a fantastic service which is often on the borderline between sport and therapy. They often offer one session per week, the majority of their participants have complex physical and cognitive disabilities and few of their participants progress to competitive swimming. Level Water's focus is on developing swimmers who are likely to move on to competitive swimming in mainstream clubs.
Sport can change lives – particularly for the disabled.
All children - and particularly children with a disability - should be building an early belief in their ability and potential, as well as building physical confidence. Sport can have a huge impact on a child's self-confidence and self-belief. Level Water aims to have a long-term impact on a child’s involvement in sport. We provide initial building blocks and long-term support, giving children the opportunity to move in to mainstream clubs and competitive swimming, taking the sport as far as they choose.
The Paralympics has created a once in a lifetime surge in interest, demand and belief amongst disabled people. It has also created a shift in perceptions amongst non-disabled people. There is political desire for a Paralympic legacy of participation and an increased demand for activities – particularly swimming – from disabled people. Over the next three years, Level Water will teach over 1,000 disabled children to swim, and help them progress through swim schools and into mainstream clubs. We believe in sport at all levels, and over the next decade we hope to produce the UK’s next generation of Paralympic swimmers.
We are a not-for-profit organisation, currently applying for Gift Aid and Charitable status.
The Paralympics has created a once in a lifetime surge in interest, demand and belief amongst disabled people. It has also created a shift in perceptions amongst non-disabled people. There is political desire for a Paralympic legacy of participation and an increased demand for activities – particularly swimming – from disabled people. Over the next three years, Level Water will teach over 1,000 disabled children to swim, and help them progress through swim schools and into mainstream clubs. We believe in sport at all levels, and over the next decade we hope to produce the UK’s next generation of Paralympic swimmers.
We are a not-for-profit organisation, currently applying for Gift Aid and Charitable status.
Support in all the right places.
We aim to become a nationally recognised charity, and the charity of choice for swimmers. We are supported and part-funded by the Amateur Swimming Association and our ambassadors include Sascha Kindred (World and Paralympic champion), Nyree Kindred (World and Paralympic Champion) and Mark Foster (six-time world record holder).
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