"Overwhelming" response to water safety campaign

Thursday 22 June 2017

A water safety campaign - launched in the memory of Joy Godfray, who drowned in the sea at Green Island last August - has received an "overwhelming" response according to her little sister, Annie Noble.

The 21-year-old woman launched 'Jersey Water Safety' with her family in May, and has been working with Jersey Coastguards to leave a lasting legacy in sister's name.

Annie says she wanted to launch the campaign to make sure no one else loses their life in the water. She created the campaign with the help of her mum, Kim, as well as Nicky Holgate-Smith and Jo Nash, with "EnJOY and stay safe in and around the water" as a motto. While it has only been a month since the launch, Annie says it is going "fantastically."

5,000 copies of Joy's Water Safety have been printed thanks to the support of local swimming and watersports business Apnea, and more are on the way. The cards contain advice for children as well as information about beach flags, and will be distributed to every child in Years 5, 6, 7, and 8 around the island.

"I have been overwhelmed by the response. While the cards are mainly for children, adults have been keeping them in their wallets which means it's working. We have a lot of requests from schools asking us to come and talk to the children," Annie commented.

Jersey Coastguards contacted Annie shortly after Jersey Water Safety was launched. Jamie Dollimore, Senior Marine Officer, told Express: "We have similar aims as we have been running our education program for children on sea safety for a while, it just made sense. It's all about getting a message across, so the more voices, the better. We are really happy to work with them to try and help achieve the safety of people. We will try and attend as many presentations together as we can."

The first joint-presentation recently took place at Grand Vaux School, an experience Annie describes as fantastic. "It was very interactive, we talked a lot with the children and the presentation was great," she said. 

For the Coastguards, Annie's presence adds another layer to their presentation. Mr Dollimore explained: "Her personal story means that children really listen to her and are able to relate to it. It makes quite an impact and shows the effect of such a tragedy has on one's family and friends. The feedback from this first assembly has been really positive. She really gets a different reaction from the children, it makes them think harder."

Annie has also been working closely with Andy Hibbs, the former RNLI coxswain who was dismissed in April for having allegedly broken the charity's code of conduct, and his crew, who went out to sea last August to try and rescue Joy in treacherous waters. "They have been giving us advice on what we could improve and what was best practice."

As good as the response has been so far, Annie, Kim, Nicky and Jo are not going to stop there. Jo Nash explained: "The campaign is about water safety, not just sea! Lots of people have focused on sea safety but it is more that pools have their dangers and we are hoping to get that message across. The aim is to provide vital awareness, knowledge and advice to keep children safe in and around the sea, swimming pools, places like Millbrook Park (whose pool is not life guarded) and whilst on holiday abroad."