Hartlepool-based Water Babies make a splash for charity cash

Every two years, the Water Babies franchises hosts a national Splashathon in which parents and children dress up for their swimming lesson, with this year’s theme being Covid “superheroes”.

Water Babies Tees Valley, Durham and Darlington, which has its headquarters in Hartlepool, has topped the national fundraising table – securing over £52,000 in donations, including from events held at High Tunstall College of Science.

The chief executive of Water Babies, Pamela Hargreaves, said: “This is an incredible achievement and I would just like to say a massive ‘well done and thank you’ to all our little swimmers and their families who have taken part this year.

"Water Babies is a family run company and the way everyone has come together to raise this astonishing amount of money feels like one big family working together. We are so proud of everyone involved.”

The bi-annual event is in aid of Tommy’s, a charity dedicated to finding causes and treatments to save babies’ lives as well as providing pregnancy and baby loss advice and support.

Tommy’s chief executive Jane Brewin said: “We can’t thank the Water Babies swimmers of the Tees Valley and Durham area enough. They have raised an incredible amount of money for our work.

"The pandemic has created higher demand for our charity’s support, with 90% more queries to our midwife helpline and millions of people accessing our pregnancy information.

"We are massively grateful for their incredibly generous donations.”