The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation has signed a partnership agreement with Aqwa Itineris, a company that makes mobile swimming pools, for swimming lessons to be accessible to all.
Between 1st June and 31st August 2021, 1,983 people drowned in France. This figure is thought partially to stem from the fact that Covid prevented swimming pools from opening, thus preventing children who would otherwise have been taught to swim to enter the water ill-equipped.
In other cases, it is simply because the proper facilities do not exist in the area, and kids never had a chance to learn in a safe environment.
Enter Aqwa Itineris, a company that has created a mobile swimming pool to make lessons available to communities where an aquatic centre does not exist. A truck can take the pool even to the most remote areas and set up for as long as it is required.
The innovative solution has all the bells and whistles of a swimming pool in a trailer, including showers, changing rooms, reduced mobility access and a technical area, as well as the 8×2.10 metre pool. It even has an adjustable bottom so depths can be altered from zero to 1.20 metres deep.
On 4th March, a partnership was entered between Aqwa Itineris and the Princess Charlene Foundation, as witnessed by Gareth Wittstock, Secretary General of the Foundation, Olivier Tauty, co-founder and president of Aqwa Itineris France, and Jean-François Buisson, founder of Aqwa Itineris.
The Foundation has agreed to help municipalities that don’t have the means or the suitable infrastructure to house their own aquatic centres by co-financing an Aqwa Itineris pool to benefit children, the elderly and the disabled in these places, under defined conditions.
This falls directly in line with the Foundation’s mission to fight drowning without discrimination, as well as to incorporate sport into the lives of children. Since the inception of the Foundation, it has supported educational projects through three programmes worldwide.
To protect children from avoidable injuries and to prevent drowning, the Learn to Swim and Water Safety programmes provide theoretical and practical training to children and adults and raise public awareness of water hazards. To inspire future generations and contribute to the well-being of children, the Sport and Education programme organises sports events and encourages everyone to take up a sport.
In implementing its actions and projects, the Foundation assists local institutions, relies on the technical expertise of partners, and cooperates with international organisations that share its vision and its goals.
Photo source: Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation