STA is thrilled to confirm it has been shortlisted for two prestigious national honours at the 2025 Charity Times Awards – Campaigning Team of the Year and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award

The Campaigning Team of the Year shortlist recognises the efforts of STA’s whole team, who led the development and delivery of two of the charity’s key initiatives over the last 12-18 months – Community STArters and Community Heart STArters – in line with STA’s charitable objective of “preserving human life through the teaching of swimming, lifesaving, and survival techniques.”

Launched in 2024, Community STArters awarded £1,000 grants to local charities and organisations delivering swimming and water safety programmes. These included disability swim clubs, open water sessions to support mental health, and subsidised lessons for families in financial hardship or people experiencing homelessness.

Earlier this year, STA introduced the next phase of the campaign – Community Heart STArters – to provide free defibrillators to not-for-profit aquatic and sports groups – helping make leisure spaces safer by improving access to life-saving equipment and ensuring devices are registered with The Circuit, a national defibrillator network.

STA’s commitment to inclusion has also been recognised by the Charity Times Awards, as part of the shortlisting for the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award, with the STArLIGHT campaign noted for its impact.

Entirely funded by STA, the STArLIGHT initiative was created to build teacher confidence and improve access for disabled learners. It provided free specialist training to 500 swimming teachers across the UK – with 86% saying they would adapt all their lessons to be more inclusive, positively impacting thousands of current and future learners.

Further examples of STA’s focus on EDI come from its partnership working with organisations such as Autism Swim, CP Sport, Level Water, UK Deaf Sport, Sporting Equals, and the LGBT Foundation to improve access and understanding across the sector. Through this, STA has introduced many initiatives, including a BSL CPD course for swimming teachers, delivered free inclusive teaching webinars, and co-funded BSL interpreters for swimming teacher courses.

STA has also been integrally involved with a pilot Inclusion Specialist initiative with Level Water and GLL, which integrated teachers into mainstream lessons to support 50-80 disabled children each week. The model is now being considered for wider rollout.

Dave Candler, STA’s CEO, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be shortlisted for two Charity Times Awards, and I’m especially proud that the team has been recognised for all their hard work and commitment. To be simply shortlisted by the Charity Times alongside so many fantastic charities is a huge honour in itself.”

“These nominations reflect the real and practical difference STA and our partners are making every day. From helping more people learn to swim safely, to building a more inclusive aquatic sector, everything we do is driven by community needs, lived experience, and a passion to give as many people as possible – of all ages, abilities and from all backgrounds – the opportunity to learn a key life skill as part of our charity objective,” added Dave, who is also an active member of ukactive’s Everyone Can Task Force.

The winners will be announced at the Charity Times’ Gala Dinner on 25 September 2025 at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square.

Now in their 26th year, the Charity Times Awards celebrate best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector. Organised by Charity Times, the awards recognise outstanding professionals, promote sector development, and shine a spotlight on the vital work charities deliver across the country.