Friday, 29th March 2019
In January, Councillor James Starkie set himself a challenge – to lose weight, encourage other people to get fit, climb Pendle Hill by the end of his Mayoral year in May and raise money for local children who need additional help with learning to swim.
And he enlisted Pendle Leisure Trust to help him achieve his goals - using the Trust’s facilities to do his training with the help of a dedicated team of gym instructors, and swimming teachers to help him fulfil his ambition of enabling Pendle youngsters to learn to swim.
He said: “I understand whilst most children go swimming with school and learn successfully, there are a few that slip through the net for various reasons and need the extra lessons. Therefore, I want to raise money to help these children.
“When I was 13, I was thrown in at the deep end at Nelson Baths and it has literally scarred me for life. I have since learned to swim and I think it is very important that everyone can do so.”
The Mayor is being supported in his campaign by Melanie Goodship, whose 17-year-old son, James, died after drowning at Foulridge Reservoir in June 2014. He had been playing on a raft with friends and got into difficulties trying to swim back to shore.
Melanie says what the Mayor is hoping to achieve is fantastic and cannot stress enough the importance of learning to swim and understanding water safety. She said: “Swimming is an essential life-saving skill. Drowning is still the most common cause of accidental deaths in children. It is imperative all children know what to do if they – or someone else - gets into trouble in the water.
“James was a very strong swimmer; he just didn’t know anything about water safety. It is so important to teach children this as well as teaching them to swim.”
The Mayor is hoping to raise £1,000 which will pay for a number of crash courses, which includes water safety, to be held throughout the summer holidays at Pendle Leisure Centre in Colne, to enable Year 6 pupils to reach the national curriculum standard.
Councillor Starkie added: “I have committed to these challenges and I promise I will give it my whole. With the help and support from staff at Pendle Leisure Trust and the financial generosity of the people and businesses of Pendle, I am determined to reach my goals and help as many youngsters as possible learn to swim.”
