Black Swimming Association Earns 2022 National Lottery UK Project of the Year

BR4131 - National Lottery Awards - Project of the Year - Photography - 0022 (1)-min

Seren Jones; Photo Courtesy: Black Swimming Association

Black Swimming Association Earns 2022 National Lottery UK Project of the Year

The Black Swimming Association (BSA) was awarded the National Lottery Award as the UK Project of the Year this week.

The presentation was made in Cardiff, Wales, by sports television presenter Jason Mohammad at the STAR Hub swimming pool in the city’s Tremorfa section. The location is a nod to BSA co-founder Seren Jones, who is from Cardiff.

The BSA, founded in 2020, aims to expand access to swimming instruction and water safety to people in African, Caribbean and Asian communities in the United Kingdom. By working with communities, national bodies, government agencies and companies active in aquatic spaces, they hope to reduce the risk of accidental death by drowning. Per Sport England, up to 95 percent of Black adults, 80 percent of Black children, 93 percent of Asian adults and 78 percent of Asian children in the UK do not swim. Co-founder Ed Accura also brought attention to the cause with a documentary project, “A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim.”

The BSA’s project emerged from more than 1,300 bids in the public voting of the National Lottery Awards, then were selected from 16 other finalists. The award includes a £5,000 cash prize, and the BSA has received £60,000 in funding through Sports Wales.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have won the award,” Jones said in a press release. “I never thought when we set up this charity two and a half years ago that we would win a national award. I would like to thank everyone who voted for us.

“This is more than just a learn to swim programme. It’s about knowing how to be safe in and around the water. It’s about overcoming emotional and mental hurdles that perhaps have existed in generations of different families. It’s also about getting people to feel empowered to use the aquatic centres and facilities in their local areas.”

From the press release:

The BSA is the first organisation working with these communities to promote water safety, drowning prevention and the benefits of aquatics through water familiarisation and other eclectic programmes. After success in England, the BSA is currently defining the picture in Wales and are working to ensure they can do targeted interventions to prevent these communities being at high risk of drowning or near drowning incidents.

Working closely with strategic aquatic, water safety and education partners across the UK, the BSA has created a strong partnership with National Lottery funding distributor Sport Wales, in partnership with Swim Wales, to make swimming and other aquatic sports more ethnically diverse and inclusive. This is the first time a project has focused on this issue in Wales. The partnership, which is supported by National Lottery funding, includes a community engagement element as well as the sharing and development of ground-breaking research, and the implementation of sustainable community led programmes.

Jones began swimming at a young age, with parents determined to expose her and her siblings to swimming. Now 28, she rose to the elite ranks via City of Cardiff Swimming Club and attended LIU Post University in the United States on a swimming scholarship.

“This project is a huge step towards getting more people from ethnically diverse backgrounds engaged in aquatics and all it has to offer,” added Team GB Olympic swimmer Alice Dearing, one of the BSA’s four founders. “The fact that the public voted for us makes winning this award all the more special. It’s fantastic to get this recognition and it inspires us to keep going and wanting more.”

The National Lottery Awards fund projects in sectors such as sports; heritage; art, film & culture; community & charity; environment; and young hero. Begun in 1994, it has made more than 670,000 individual grants totaling 47 billion. More information on the program is available here.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use