A boutique training provider has helped Ukrainian refugees secure new careers as lifeguards in the UK, thanks to the RLSS UK’s National Pool Lifeguard Qualification.
Swim UK, part of Functional Skills UK, operates one of the largest programmes of lifeguard, swimming teaching and leisure industry-related courses in Kent and Sussex.
Three Ukrainians are now working as lifeguards at Brighton Swimming Centre after completing the RLSS UK’s NPLQ – one of the most respected and recognised lifeguarding qualifications in the world. A fourth learner, aged 16, has gone on to full time education at Brighton College.
The lifeguards – aged 19, 34 and 47-years-old – had been enrolled on a Functional Skills UK course to improve their English reading, writing and communication skills when offered the opportunity to complete the NPLQ course with Swim UK.
The students studied alongside their British counterparts during the five-day course using Google Translate to interpret any specialist terminologies. During the final exam, they had access to a phone (not their own) and an app, which allowed them to translate the questions into Ukrainian.