Drowning Is Silent. Let’s Change That Score!

As the roar of the crowd fills London’s Wembley Stadium this Sunday, 10 August, when the winners of the 2024/25 Emirates FA Cup, Crystal Palace, play the current Premier League champions, Liverpool, a very different message will cut through the excitement – in silence.

On Sunday, 10 August 2025, at 16:00, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) will broadcast a stark reminder on the stadium’s LED boards during the FA Community Shield: “The game is loud. Drowning is silent. Let’s change that score.”

This powerful slogan highlights the contrast between the deafening cheers of football and the quiet tragedy of drowning, urging spectators to help “change the score” by preventing drownings.

Drowning: The Silent Crisis in Africa

In the 90 minutes of an average football match, as many as 11 people in Africa will drown – and often no one will hear a sound. That’s effectively a whole team lost every game. Drowning is a silent epidemic in Africa. According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 66,000 lives are lost across the continent each year.

Yet drowning remains a largely overlooked public health issue, despite being almost entirely preventable with the right education and interventions.

The NSRI’s campaign aims to break this silence. By flashing its life-saving message amid the football fanfare, NSRI hopes to rally public attention and action to reduce these devastating and silent losses.

Football’s Biggest Stage Meets a Lifesaving Cause

By bringing the drowning prevention message to the FA Community Shield, NSRI is leveraging one of football’s high-profile moments for a higher purpose.

The FA Community Shield marks the official start of the English football season and offers the first opportunity for silverware. Played at the iconic Wembley Stadium, tens of thousands of fans will be in attendance, with millions more watching on television around the world. Not only is it a celebrated sporting event, but it’s also rooted in charity: proceeds from the Community Shield game support community initiatives and charitable causes. This spirit of community upliftment makes it a fitting platform for the NSRI’s life-saving appeal.

“We cannot afford to be silent about drowning,” says Mike Vonk, NSRI CEO, emphasising the urgency of prevention. “While fans celebrate goals, another family could be silently losing someone to drowning. We need to rally as passionately for drowning prevention as we do for the teams that we support.”

Vonk noted that too many lives are tragically lost to drowning every year, an entirely preventable crisis if more people become aware and involved. “Anyone can drown, but no one should,” he added, echoing the NSRI’s core belief that collective action can turn the tide on this crisis.

Watch, SMS, and Save Lives

NSRI is calling on everyone tuning into the match to look out for the message on the LED boards, and to take action.

Viewers are encouraged to SMS their name to 32287 after spotting the NSRI’s “Let’s change the score on drowning” message. By doing so, fans stand a chance to win a big-screen TV as a thank-you for their engagement.

More importantly, each SMS represents someone who has heard NSRI’s call. It’s a pledge not to let drowning remain a silent statistic. “We want people to remember that moment during the game and carry it beyond the final whistle. To talk about water safety, to teach their children, and to support our drowning prevention and rescue services,” says Vonk.

The NSRI hopes the excitement of possibly winning a TV will draw more attention to the campaign, spreading the message far and wide.

How Donations Make a Difference

The NSRI is a non-profit water rescue organisation. Their volunteer rescue crews respond to more than 1000 emergencies on South Africa’s waters year-round, and their educators teach water safety and survival swimming to communities to prevent tragedies before they happen. In 2024 alone, NSRI instructors delivered 877,485 water safety lessons and taught 25,000 survival swimming skills in under-resourced areas.

These efforts, from maintaining rescue boats and equipment to operating Survival Swimming Centres, are all made possible by the generosity of donors. By supporting the NSRI, the public helps keep rescuers ready and ensures that initiatives like survival swimming lessons continue to grow, giving children the skills to save themselves and others.

“When the teams kick off at Wembley and the LED boards light up with NSRI’s message, we hope that every cheer in the stadium becomes a cheer for saving lives as well,” said Vonk. “Together, let’s change the score, one life at a time.”