The letter starts with beginners, families, clubs, coaches, and people who want safer first launches.
Independent UK campaign · Summer 2026
Make safety visible before launch.
Sign the Summer 2026 Open Letter asking retailers to put safety guidance, flotation choices, and basic water checks where beginners actually make buying decisions.
Open letterSummer 2026
One public ask. Two linked campaigns. Reviewed signatures.
Why this exists
Safety should meet people before they reach the water.
Beginner paddlers should not have to know the right search terms before basic safety guidance appears. If a shop can make the board easy to buy, it can also make the safety decision easy to see.
This campaign is for accessible paddling with clearer responsibility at the buying moment: flotation, conditions, calling for help, leash choice, and recognised advice before checkout and before launch.
The public ask
Make the safety decision as visible as the product.
One signature covers whichever campaign asks you choose — without making you a sponsor or organiser.
Your name, region, and comment appear publicly only if you opt in.
Campaigns
Two asks. One public letter. No buried safety advice.
The campaign is not anti-paddling. It asks for the safety information beginners need to be placed where buying decisions are actually made.
01
Campaign: Safe Sale, Safe Paddle
Make safety guidance impossible to miss before people launch.
Product pages, seasonal aisles, marketplace listings, packaging, and checkout journeys should give beginners clear safety prompts before they buy and before they get on the water.
02
Campaign: Offer the Buoyancy Aid
Make suitable flotation visible wherever beginner craft are sold.
Retailers selling beginner inflatable paddleboards, kayaks, and similar craft should also sell or directly offer suitable buoyancy aids, PFDs, or lifejackets where appropriate.
Who can sign
Support can come from people on the water and people around them.
Individuals and families
Add public support as a paddler, parent, beginner, or concerned member of the public.
Clubs and coaches
Back the campaign as a club, coach, instructor, centre, or local watersports group.
Shops and organisations
Support the safety ask as a specialist shop, retailer, charity, business, or community organisation.
Water safety first
Five decisions to make before a first paddle.
Recognised guidance keeps returning to the same basics. None of this replaces training or local advice — start here, then learn properly.
- Wear a correctly fitted buoyancy aid or personal flotation device.
- Carry a way to call for help on your person, not stored inside the craft.
- Check wind, weather, tides, flow, cold water, and local hazards.
- Understand leash choice for the craft and environment.
- Tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return.
Where change is needed
Retailers shape the safety decision before anyone reaches the water.
We're asking retailers to change the places where buying decisions actually happen: product pages, in-store displays, seasonal promotions, marketplace listings, checkout prompts, packaging, and imagery.
Put safety prompts on product pages, displays, packaging, and checkout journeys.
Offer suitable buoyancy aids, PFDs, or lifejackets alongside beginner inflatable craft where appropriate.
Say plainly when flotation equipment is not included and avoid one-size-fits-all bundle claims.
Show suitable safety equipment in product, catalogue, and promotional images where appropriate.
Point buyers to trusted safety advice before their first launch.
Credibility and independence
Firm asks, careful claims.
Evidence-led
Public claims should be tied to named sources, dates, confidence, and limitations.
Careful about criticism
Retailer scores or criticism are not published without methodology, review rules, and right to reply.
Independent
We don't speak for any safety body, club, or retailer unless permission is explicit — and we never imply it.
Take action
If this feels obvious, make it visible.
One letter, two asks. Back one or both — every signature is read and reviewed before it's published, and your contact details stay private.