Water Skills Academy (WSA) is an international organisation providing watersport instructor courses and consultancy across the disciplines of Stand Up Paddleboarding, Beach Lifeguarding, & Surf Instructing.
All of our WSA trainers are highly experienced individuals with vast experience in their chosen field and offer the highest standard of professional watersport training. We provide technical advice to the Princes Trust, councils, schools and government organisations and offer centre and school accreditation.

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About
Find out about our organisation,
mission, our methods, and the results of our decades of advocacy.
WORLDWIDE GUIDED SUP ADVENTURES
LATEST STORIES
The first Covid lockdown saw unprecedented sales of paddleboards as the uptake and demand to try this fast growing sport hit an all time high. Retailers such as Red Paddle Co experienced a 300% rise in SUP sales – and now, as we navigate lockdown 3.0, what’s the next step?
Water Skills Ambassador Stacey Smithson-Grey’s idea for ‘The Lake District 12’ came about after regularly seeing the question on social media groups/forums asking which lakes you can and can’t paddle in the Lake District. Read her diary of her stand up paddleboarding adventure across all 12 of these lakes in 2020.
The water has never been busier with paddlers. As a result of this increased uptake, Water Skills Academy has received a constant number of calls and emails, requesting our advice and opinion on safety equipment and working environments. One of the most popular questions has been about leashes and their use.
This month marks a new milestone for Water Skills Academy, as we have just been awarded full B Corp certification. It has been an interesting and eye-opening journey, but we are proud to be joining the likes of Patagonia, Jamie Oliver Group, Able & Cole, The Body Shop and almost 4,000 companies around the world, each measuring our impact across every facet of the business, and being held to a benchmark that’s a transparent and quantifiable standard.
In September 2020, Cal Major set out to paddle the navigable section of the River Severn, the UK’s longest river. What began as a study into plastic’s journey from source to sea quickly became an unexpected love for an environment she previously hadn’t spent much time in. Read Cal’s exclusive account of her expedition.
The summer of 2020 will always be remembered as the summer we all stayed home. It pushed us to try new watersports and make the most of the UK coastline like never before, and the popularity of Stand Up Paddleboarding sky-rocketed. As the sport enters a new era, we examine the need for increased water and paddle safety awareness.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, which comes at an unprecedented time for us all. As we remain stuck in our homes, under different pressures, missing support networks, family, friends and the activities that are often our release from day-to-day stresses, we continue to be available for our members and trainers as much as we can.
While we all navigate through uncertain times, we appreciate that renewing memberships isn’t a favourable action for many. We are aware that COVID-19 is greatly impacting the WSA community, but we cannot stress enough the need for continued insurance cover through this time. With this in mind, coupled with the fact that the majority of income streams have been diminished, we have taken the decision to offer all of our current members extended membership until 1 July 2020, so that their cover and their businesses are not compromised during this time.
SLSGB has a strategic partnership with the RNLI and SLSGB volunteers work closely with RNLI Beach Lifeguards providing a joint lifeguard service and beach patrol. All SLSGB’s lifesaving qualifications are recognised nationally and internationally and are a qualification of preference for the RNLI professional Lifeguard Service. SLSGB have a list of accredited training providers who offer 5 day lifesaving courses.
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