Tuesday 28 June 2011

Big Buzz for the Big Dip



The British Gas Big Dip London takes place in Clapham Common from June 18th to July 17th and the British Gas Big Dip Manchester will be held in Spinningfields from July 30th to August 29th.



The Uk’s ultimate urban swim festival, which is the brainchild of Olympic medallist Steve Parry, builds on the success of the British Gas ‘Pools 4 Schools’ project held on the south bank of the River Thames in London during 2009, which taught over 2,000 people to swim in just four weeks.



Launching the latest initiative to get more people to enjoy swimming, Steve Parry said:

“The British Gas Big Dip offers swimming for all the family and so much more – in fact all the fun of the beach is being taken into two iconic British cities. There’s a real focus on teaching people to swim and also sessions which will give people more confidence in the water.

“People who come to the attraction will be able to see England’s Volleyball team, exercise and try new activities including giant slides and zorbing pools. There will also be a beach area for non-swimmers with volleyball sessions, yoga, pilates, kids competitions.”



Jodie Kidd and Mark Foster were at the official launch, and with yesterday's heatwave there were over 1,000 visitors throughout the day.


We met the Olympic medalist (and very tall!) Steve Parry at a recent launch event, and his passion and enthusiasm for the scheme was inspiring.  One in five children in the UK leave primary school unable to swim.  Not only is swimming great fun, brilliant exercise and relaxation, but it is also a life skill - drowning is the 4th biggest killer of children under 16.
Confidence in the water is something we can teach our children from a very young age.  It's about getting in the pool and having fun.  Once that is achieved, then children can move on to lessons - whether they are formal classes, or taught by parents.

The Big Dip is a great opportunity to enjoy the water, so come on down!

@The_Big_Dip on Twitter for the latest updates. 
To book your place visit http://www.bigdip.co.uk/

You have the chance to win one of 5 family sets of tickets to the London event.  To enter, please leave a comment below stating why you'd like to attend.  For an additional entry, please tweet the following and leave a separate tweet to say you've done so: "I'm entering @missielizzieb 's competition to win family tickets to @The_Big_Dip You can too here: http://bit.ly/lp2Idl"

The competition will close at 8pm on Sunday 03 July.  The event is on until 17th July in London.  5 winners will be chosen at random to receive a  pair each of standard entry tickets which allow 2 adults and 2 children (under the age of 12) entry to the Big Dip and swimming in the pools on any day. Neither this blog, not British Gas, the sponsors of this competition will be liable in the event of cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances.  Winners must respond within 3 days with contact details in order to claim their prize.

Disclosure: All opinions are my own.  Prizes are supplied by the Big Dip organisers.  I received family tickets and attended a launch event.  No financial reward was given.

9 comments:

  1. I would love to enter this comp to take my 2 young girls who are real little mermaids! They love swimming, which I'm pleased they do. They are 7 and 8, and are both very good swimmers, which is peace of mind when we take them swimming, I do beleive that all children should be able to swim, and I do wish many of the schools would make this compulsory, as this is how I learnt to swim via my school when I was younger. It's fantastic excercise, plus lots of fun, children and water go very well together.

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  2. Tweeted too @The_Mazza. What a great comp, this would really educate the kiddies too on the dangers of Silly swimming as I tell them.x

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  3. I'd love to take my hoard to the big dip in London, hadn't head of it before reading your blog! It looks like great fun and my boys love to swim.

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  4. Have also tweeted - @kellyKoya

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  5. kelly hockings30 June, 2011 18:20

    Would love to take my kids my 8yr old is doing lessons so this would make him feel more confident and my 5yr old is scared of the water due to ADHD but something like this will help her realise it's not at all scary! also tweetinf as @hockings5458 great comp xx

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  6. i love to win this so i can use the tickets for the london event to help raise money for nspcc

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  7. I would love to win this and have a day out as a family and my boys have just started swimming lessons so this would be perfect.

    Have tweeted also @janey0142

    janey0142@live.com

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  8. This competition is now closed. Would @janey0142, Alex, @hockings5458, @kellyKoya and @The_Mazza please contact me with you addresses asap either by DM @missielizzieb or email missielizzieandmyshadow (@) ymail.com.

    Congrats!

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  9. Yes, according to an investigation conducted by The Associated Press. Qatar, a tiny but wealthy Arab nation, has spied on FIFA officials for years through a former CIA officer to win and hold on to hosting the 2022 World Cup tournament. Read this complete article at The Arab Post.

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