CHILDREN in Bromsgrove are being offered the chance to learn some valuable water safety skills and raise money for charity, with swimming ‘pyjama parties’.

Babies and children learning to swim with local company ‘Puddle Ducks’ are being asked to turn up for a session of life-preserving activities dressed in their pyjamas, to help them learn life preserving activities, but the company is also asking its swimmers to help support Libby Mae’s Little Angels, by making a donation, or getting sponsored to swim in their pyjamas as part of its sessions in Barnt Green.

The Libby Mae’s Little Angels charity was established in memory of Libby Mae Sharrat, who was born in 2013 with a heart condition which meant she would never be able to breathe for herself. After she passed away at two weeks old, her parents set up the charity to say thank you for the care they’d received at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, and to support other parents and babies in similar situations.

Kate Attwood, from Puddle Ducks Worcestershire, said: “We are really happy to be combining supporting a great cause with our pyjama parties. Puddle Ducks hold a pyjama party every term, we have a real focus on fun, but there’s a serious message behind it. Being in water in clothes helps children to realise how it could feel if they got into trouble while out playing. In a controlled environment in a pool they can learn how to cope with this situation, so if it unfortunately happened out there in the real world, they’d be more equipped to deal with it.”

To find out more about Puddle Ducks, visit puddleducks.com or for more information on Libby Mae’s Little Angels, visit libbymaeslittleangels.com.