Drowning prevention event held on the Embankment

25 July 2025

An event has been held on World Drowning Prevention (Friday 25 July) to educate residents on the dangers of open water, following the tragic death of three lives in the water of the Embankment, Wellingborough.

North Northamptonshire Council’s Stronger and Safer Communities organised the event alongside Ronalds Abele’s family, who tragically died after getting into difficulty in open water.

The event was supported by organisations including Northamptonshire Search and Rescue, Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire, the Environment Agency, RNLI, Waendel Leisure Centre and agencies including MIND, Aquarius, Bridge and Family Support Link.

This event was organised in the hopes of raising awareness to prevent future tragedies and it was excellent to see so many partners coming together with a common goal - helping people remain safe when in aquatic environments.

But it’s not just this one event, we are always looking to work with the community and partners on additional measures to improve safety along our waterways.Cllr Greg Wilcox, North Northamptonshire Council’s Executive Member for Communities

Drowning incidents happen for a number of reasons and a normal day could end in tragedy, which is why this event is so important. I hope that events like this highlight the dangers and makes people think when around open water - one tragic drowning case is one case too many.Cllr Martin Griffiths, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council

As part of the event, the council’s team took part in on-going discussions around requirements to improve safety at open spaces across North Northamptonshire and there were also live demonstrations of first aid and CPR techniques to educate attendees on how to safely support someone who has got into trouble in water.