Dear Members,

I certainly don’t want to jinx it but there’s a pattern with my conference speeches and end of year recaps – I always say that it’s been another amazing year for the STA! This year is no exception and there have been so many achievements! Instead of scrambling around trying to find what to include, I end up spending my time wondering what I can leave out!

Firstly, I wanted to start with some important figures:

• 2023 figures from OFQUAL, show that STA delivered 65% of all Level 2 Baby and Pre-school Teaching Qualifications and 80% of all Level 2 Open Water Swimming Coaching qualifications. That’s more than the market share! That’s a fact!
• Between 2021- 2023, the number of Level 2 swimming teachers STA trained increased by 110%. The very latest OFQUAL figures also show that STA delivered 61% of all Level 2 swimming teaching qualifications in England.
• Between 2017 – July 2024, GLL alone has trained 4,038 STA Swimming Teachers since joining the STA in 2017.
• Membership surpassed 20,000 for the first time.
• In just six months in the 2023/24 financial year, 500 swimming teachers successfully gained the STA Award in Aquatic Teaching – Disability Swimming. An overwhelming majority (86%) of teachers said they will be adapting all their swimming lessons to be more inclusive.

This year we saw the launch of CommUNITY STArters, and every month during 2024, a £1000 grant was awarded. We’ve seen the grants used to support local families who cannot afford vital learn-to-swim and water safety lessons, through to the organisation of free open water sessions to help people manage anxiety, depression, and other illnesses, and the funding of events for disability swimming clubs.

Partnerships are important to the STA – not just securing them but ensuring they are fruitful:

• This year we are grateful to Zoggs for extending their partnership agreement with us for another three years.
• We welcomed swim! who, by the end of 2024, will have 30 STA tutors embedded into its nationwide brand portfolio.
• We re-launched the Water Safety Squad ahead of the 10-year anniversary of ILSW in 2025.
• Good Boost partnered with us.
• We secured several new partnerships in the private and public sectors – GetSetGo, Kirklees, Inverclyde.

The team at Anchor House has also been busy on internal projects, with the launch of the new Aquacise qualification, a new affiliation scheme for open water venues, the launch of Excel Me, and the first and very successful STA roadshows in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland.

International Learn to Swim Week 2024 was also another great success with more than 3,500 swim schools across 30 countries taking part, teaching more than half a million participants how to #LoveWaterSafely.

For those of you with ATCs, I’m sure you have been thrilled with the amount of support you’ve received from the team this year – the resources and webinars have been fantastic.

As members, we recognise the support provided to us, but the STA has also been recognised externally. At the FAB Awards in November this year, STA was thrilled to win the ‘AO of the year for delivering real impact on equity, diversity and inclusion’ award for the STArLIGHT Project.

Big news came in October when, for the first time in history, STA and Swim England entered into a strategic partnership. We hope that we can work with Swim England going forward to ensure our members and their members have equal access and rights within the industry, to work and train without barriers.

One of the many things I love about the STA is that it is driven by the members, and this was evident again only last week when Dave responded immediately to a request from a member to assist with lobbying MPs to remove pool hire VAT from private ‘educational’ schools.

Many of the training courses, CPDs, initiatives, and partnerships have been developed from member suggestions/participation. How many other Governing Bodies are led by, and engage their members in such a way?

2025 is looking to be another exciting year with Dave already chomping at the bit to launch some new initiatives, a new charitable project, and some exciting new partnerships and I’m sure there will be more from members, for members!

So, it leaves me to say a huge thank you to Trustees Dave Lewis, Anita Sharma, Dana Wells, Sara Abbott & Mike Penfold, and in particular to Joanne Bradshaw who stepped down as a Trustee this month after five years – your continued support is appreciated. To members, STA Ambassadors, our partners, and suppliers – thank you!

Finally, to Dave Candler – thank you for the work you and the ENTIRE team at Anchor House do to support members – the STA has gone from strength to strength under your leadership and as a member, and on behalf of the members, thank you!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Ali Beckman
STA President