Be safe this Christmas and reward your designated driver

All I want for Christmas… is not to hear about another drink and drive related death over the festive season.

For the past three years Coca-Cola have run the Designated Driver campaign which encourages people to make sure there is a designated driver who doesn’t drink and can be responsible for getting people home safe. Being a DD is such an important job, so Coca-Cola think this should be rewarded. At over 9,000 pubs in the UK your designated driver can get a Coke or Diet Coke free when they buy one, two for the price of one basically.

Coca-Cola Designated Driver blogger badge

I have lots of facts and figures that I can share with you about this campaign but I won’t, the information is here, on the Coca-Cola website for you if you want to have a read. My message to you is simple, please don’t take the risk this Christmas. Enjoy the festive season, celebrate and support your designated driver by choosing where possible, pubs that run the designated driver scheme.

It’s the designated driver that will get people home this Christmas, safe and well, ensuring that they can have a guilt free Xmas, knowing that no-one else has been hurt as a result of poor judgement after someone has got into a car after having an alcoholic drink. It’s the designated driver that will stop countless Christmas days being spoiled because a loved one has been hurt or killed.

Dark thoughts aside this really is a great campaign. Click through to find the pubs near you that are taking part  and support your designated driver. As the campaign is nationwide, many others can benefit so please pass the information on.
Coca-Cola Designated Driver blogger badge

Have a great (and safe Christmas) all.

GuestPost: The importance of teaching your kids to swim from Splish Splosh Swimming School

Here at Splish Splosh Swimming School we are committed to ensuring that all our students learn the life saving skill of swimming from as early an age as possible – that’s why we take babies from 15lbs as not only do they look magical in the water (as our underwater photography sessions show) but the sooner you introduce a child to the water the sooner you can have confidence that your child will be less likely to come into difficulty when out playing with friends or on holiday.

As an island nation it is of particular importance that we emphasise the need for children to take up swimming, as many holidays are spent at the seaside and children take great pleasure in visiting the leisure centre with friends. It mustn’t be forgotten that swimming has many health benefits, and as we are now officially the unhealthiest nation in Europe, swimming can play a key role encouraging a child to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

It was therefore extremely disconcerting to discover that the ASA (the English national governing body for all things swimming) had discovered through its latest research that whereas seven out of ten children under five could play a video game, only two out of ten could swim with confidence.
Jon Glenn, the ASA’s Head of Learn to Swim, added this: “This new research is worrying because we urge parents to get their children in the water from six months old. Two to five years is the ideal age for children to learn to be confident and have fun in the pool.
Drowning is also the third most common cause of accidental death for children in the UK and although most children learn to swim at primary school, this could be too late.”
As parents reading this blog I’m sure that you all have your children’s best interests at heart and the computer does offer a little respite when the arguments break out amongst children, but the team at Splish Splosh encourage you to reconsider spending £40 on a video game and invest in swimming lessons. Time spent in the water can encourage your child to socialise whilst having fun in the water with other children, learning an essential skill; something that you can continue on holiday and during the school break in your own time.

For more information about Splish Splosh Swimming School and to follow our new ambassador, Olympian Kate Haywood, please visit the website.

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