Retirement and protection specialist LV= has sponsored a free initiative to help children stay safe at busy beachfronts during the summer holidays for the 15th year running.

In partnership with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP Council), the LV= KidZone scheme gave out 40,000 free wristbands between 28th June and 5th September 2021.

LV= KidZone helped reunite 191 missing people with their families through this scheme. It is run by trained seafront staff working with the RNLI lifeguards and local police to ensure that lost children can be found as quickly as possible.

Despite anticipating increased footfall due to the lifting of Coronavirus restrictions, the average time taken to find a child was 14 minutes. Parents were encouraged to collect a free wristband from LV= KidZone staff, a member of the seafront team or RNLI Lifeguard towers so that children can be reunited easily if they were to get separated during a day out.

Over 800,000 people attended the Bournemouth Air Festival weekend, making it the busiest time on our beaches during the summer season. The average time taken to reunite children with their families was reduced to 10 minutes because they wore a wristband with their parent or guardian’s contact information on.