Local Swim School gives Donations to Children’s Charity

Children from the local baby and child swim school Puddle Ducks Mid Cheshire swapped their usual swimwear for cozy pyjamas last month as part of their charity PJ (Pyjama) Week – an initiative that blends fun with vital water safety education.

The week encourages little swimmers to take to the pool fully clothed, helping them understand how it feels to be in water wearing everyday clothing – an important life skill should they ever accidentally fall into water. The initiative highlights the importance of water confidence and survival techniques from a young age.

Alongside these essential lessons, families and members of the Puddle Ducks team rallied together to collect donations of brand-new pyjamas and raise funds for Children’s Hospital Pyjamas. The local campaign proved a fantastic success, with the community donating 50 pairs of pyjamas for the charity.

Children’s Hospital Pyjamas is a UK-based charity that provides new pyjamas to children in hospitals, hospices, school hospital teams, and women’s refuges across the country. These comforting items help children feel more at home during what can often be a frightening and uncertain time.

A spokesperson from Children’s Hospital Pyjamas said: “We are sincerely grateful to the Puddle Ducks franchises across the UK for their wonderful support during their ‘charity pyjama week’ through the collection of pyjamas. This has enabled us to add new establishments to deliver to this year. Their kindness and commitment have helped us reach even more children, allowing us to share the gift of pyjamas, spreading love, comfort, and dignity to those who need it most.”

Rachel Gumbley, Office Manager at Puddle Ducks Mid Cheshire, added: “PJ Week is always one of the highlights of our year – our swimmers absolutely love it! All of our Baby & Pre-school swimmers, even our tiniest Floaties, enjoyed practicing personal survival skills in the water with their grown-ups, ensuring they could self-rescue if they ever fell into water fully clothed. Our Swim Academy classes also practiced rescuing each other using a variety of lifesaving techniques, including rescues that they could use in a real-life emergency, such as a ‘shout and signal’ rescue to encourage a casualty to remain calm and swim back to the edge.”

Rachel concluded: “We’re so proud of the difference our families make by taking part, and the incredible number of pyjamas donated this year will have such a meaningful impact. A huge thank you to everyone involved.”

For more information about Puddle Ducks Mid Cheshire, contact 01477 410080 or visit https://www.puddleducks.com/local-teams/mid-cheshire.

For more information about how you can help Children’s Hospital Pyjamas, visit https://www.childrenshospitalpyjamas.co.uk/.