Sign Up For Sam
Sign Up For Sam was a marketing campaign launched by the newspaper, The Rotherham Current, I worked on in my final year at university. The campaign was set up in memory of Sam Haycock who tragically drowned after swimming Ulley Reservoir in 2022. He was only 16.
I worked closely alongside Sam's Army, which was launched by Sam's dad, Simon, to raise awareness about the dangers of open water hotspots across the UK.
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Getting more signage of swimming in the reservoir and the (invisible) dangers it has.
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Getting as much awareness as we can, making sure as many people know about the reservoir. Especially local people and people who have the power to make a change.
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To ensure that everybody knows the risks and dangers of inland swimming to ensure that Sam isn’t just a statistic but a shining beacon of change.
Campaign Aims
We were backed by Rotherham MP Sarah Champion, David Seaman and Rotherham United Football Club. Shortly after the launch of the campaign, I coordinated an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield to discuss the campaign. Both Simon and myself were interviewed.
Campaign Success
After lobbying Rotherham Council using a petition to raise awareness, we achieved our goal. Over the course of the campaign we achieved:
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More signage to be put up across South Yorkshire.
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Raised awareness by organising a talk at a local school about the danger of open water swimming, published an FOI & appeared on BBC Radio Sheffield.
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Encourage MP's and councillors to raise awareness about the dangers of open water swimming.
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