WARRINGTON-born Debbie Ann Turnbull has been honoured by His Majesty the King in the New Year’s Honours list and given the MBE as a campaigner and educator, for services in the education of young people and families about the dangers of open water.
Debbie who now lives in North Wales established the River And Sea Sense (RASS), as a non-profit organisation with charitable objectives in September 2008 in Llandudno is overwhelmed by the announcement.
Debbie said: “This MBE means the world to me in that I will be able to promote my water safety messages far and wide to save more lives. I feel it adds credibility to my work and I hope that it will attract more working partnerships and potential speaking opportunities”
Debbie first began speaking in schools to educate children about the dangers of open-water swimming in 2006 shortly after the funeral of her beloved son Christopher, who sadly drowned age 15 while swimming in open water with friends. It is her mission to educate young people and families to save lives through educating about the dangers of open water – and to support families who have lost a child or family member to drowning. So far she has spoken to and educated over 700,000 young people to date about river and sea safety.
She plans to deliver training to teachers in another 60 schools across the UK in 2024. She will speak at many networking events and professional conferences too both as a water safety educator and advocate including as an inspirational mother with a powerful story to tell ‘From Loss To Legacy’. Debbie is also planning to write a book with this same title to support families who have faced challenges and to inspire young women and girls to become whoever they want to be.
You can find out more about the work Debbie and RASS do here www.riverandseasense.com
