A SAFETY campaign triggered by the tragic deaths of two young men in a reservoir has won national recognition.
Yorkshire Water joined forces with the police, fire and ambulance services as well as Hambleton District Council following the tragedies in Cod Beck, near Osmotherley. Extra signs, leaflets and even information days followed the first drowning in 2004, but when a second death followed less than 12 months later, a more direct approach was agreed, to force home the message that cold water kills.
Young actors from the Three Tequilas Drama Group, of Bedale, helped with the filming of an uncompromising reconstruction of a sunny day which leads to tragedy, filmed at Cod Beck with the backing of both bereaved families.
The DVD - entitled Dying To Be Cool - has since been shown to groups of teenagers at schools all over the county and has now won accolades from Water UK, which represents the water industry in the media and in Government.
"We were impressed by the quality of the DVD which pulls no punches," said the organisation's chairman Richard Ackroyd. It's quite difficult to reach young adults who are often full of bravado or resistance to authority. But we've been told the film has silenced rooms full of teenagers and, having seen it, it's easy to see why."
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