Central Taranaki Safe Communities Trust adds adult swim lessons to projects

The free lessons take place at Wai o Rua - Stratford Aquatic Centre. Photo / Alyssa Smith

Central Taranaki Safe Community Trust’s (CTSCT) new project is ensuring adults are confident in and around water.

CTSCT safety officer Ann Coles said thanks to funding from Contact Energy, it had introduced free adult swim lessons during school terms, which had been successful.

“The feedback has been great. Participants are amazed at their progress and we’ve had a couple of people who started this term singing our praises on social media.”

In the past, CTSCT has run adult swim lessons alongside its school holiday lessons for primary school-aged children.

The lessons were for adults learning to swim or wanting to gain confidence, Coles said.

“Since we’re surrounded by water, it’s important to know how to keep yourself and your children safe. These lessons are all about building that confidence, whether through learning to swim or teaching the adults more techniques to help them keep themselves and their kids safe.”

The lessons take place at Wai o Rua - Stratford Aquatic Centre on a Tuesday morning or Thursday after work.

“We know some adults can’t do mornings due to work, hence the Thursday session. It’s been going really well. We want these lessons to be accessible. Our groups have a maximum of five people, allowing each person to have quality one-on-one time with the instructor.”

Each adult gets six half-hour lessons. She said, depending on the need, they may run the programme next year.

“If we see a need, we’re happy to keep this going. Everyone must know how to swim.”

Registrations are now open for swimming lessons in Term 3. Visit the CTSCT Facebook page for more information.