Water Babies Is B Corp™
Be Better, Be Brighter, Be B Corp™
Water Babies has become a certified B Corp™, recognising our commitment to putting social and environment change at the centre of our business, sourcing sustainable solutions for a better future.
But What Does This Mean?
B Corp™ believes business should be a force for good. In every aspect, an organisation should ensure it meets the highest social and environment standards for people and the planet, and not just for profit.
The B Corp™ certification process is an independent assessment which verifies that the organisation is committed to prioritising sustainable practices and meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Corps form a community of businesses that share a common vision of using business as a force for good. This community encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and collective action to drive positive change at a strategic level.
A Word From Our CEO
“We’re thrilled to become a certified B Corp™! As the first baby swimming school to achieve this in Europe, it cements Water Babies' commitment to driving our purpose activity and ensuring we create positive change as the industry leader in baby swimming.” – Howard Harrison, CEO of Water Babies
Building A Better World
Every week Water Babies teaches over 47,000 children the lifesaving skill of learning to swim, supporting families as their little ones grow and develop. This is why B Corp™ is a natural fit for Water Babies, because as a business, we’re set up to do good.
But we understand the impact we have on families is both in and out of the pool. Which is why we created Children’s Alliance, the Water Babies charitable foundation, which campaigns for better starts to create brighter futures for children. The charity collaborates with communities and supports projects to ensure all children, regardless of their needs, can access water to support their emotional, mental, and physical health. There’s also the political arm, where we’re campaigning for children and young people to be at the heart of policy making. To find out more, click here.
People are at the centre of Water Babies, and looking after them is crucial to the culture and essence of the business. There are over 1000 Water Babies employees, who are all passionate about what they do and the important work we do for families. We want to create an eco-system of opportunities for everyone in the Water Babies family to ensure they all succeed.
A big part of how we do this is looking after our beautiful planet. We want to improve our sustainability and B Corp™ provides us with an official framework and targets to this, by providing us with accountability and an action plan of how we achieve this. As an industry leader in the world of swimming, Water Babies must take the lead and action on how we can create more sustainable practices to support our industry.
We know we have a lot to achieve and improve – but this is just the beginning of our journey. And we can’t wait to take you with us as we work together to build a better start and brighter future for future generations.
Empowering People
The Water Babies community is dedicated to providing a better world for future generations. And people are at the heart of this. Through teaching a life skill in the pool, we’re helping children to learn something which will stay with them as they grow, and could one day save a life.
We also do this by providing support and awareness to charities. Over the past 15 years, Water Babies customers have raised over £5million for Tommy’s, a UK charity which funds vital research into miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth so we can keep saving babies’ lives. These are in events called ‘Splashathon’ where little ones are sponsored to do a challenge in their Water Babies lessons to raise money and awareness. This is a cause which is very close to many of the Water Babies family, and the funds generated in lessons have a direct impact on supporting the work Tommy’s achieves every day.
The Water Babies charitable foundation Children’s Alliance formalises our charitable work, and provides an action plan of how we give back to the communities to try and support everyone. We believe in investing in children, in and out of the pool, for a better future.
We also invest in the people who work with us to create better starts for children. Our franchises are made up of family-run businesses, who are passionate about their work and delivering an experience which is beneficial to little ones. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing children thrive in a supportive, educational and non-judgmental environment.
In 2022, Water Babies was awarded Platinum in the Investors in People accreditation, proving our commitment to the people who work here. Our culture centers on supporting people to deliver success and be the best they can be. We work with our teams to ensure they have everything they need to thrive prioritize their health and well-being.
Innovating For A Better Tomorrow
Our retail products have been created to ensure we support little ones and their families throughout their baby swimming journey, both in and out of the pool. Ensuring we use the highest quality of products and testing to make them the best for customers. We’ve reviewed how we can make our products more sustainable, researching into using sustainable materials, from packaging to the toys themselves, to ensure we’re reducing our carbon footprint.
The launch of the Water Babies branded Happy Nappy™ DUO, the most advanced reusable swim nappy in the world, manufactured by our long term partner Splash About, is an example of how we’re doing this. Every little one in lessons needs to wear a Happy Nappy, but the all-in-one double nappy system reduces the need to use disposable paper swim nappies underneath to help protect the environment. With a new built in active silver inner layer, it’s scientifically proven to kill pathogens that cause tummy bugs like Cryptosporidium or E.coli.
If every water baby wore a Happy Nappy Duo in their lessons, this would reduce 47,000 paper swim nappies ending up in landfill every week. You can find out more about our Happy Nappy here.
We’re also investigating how to dispose of products safely and sustainably, working with our suppliers to look at initiatives of how we can achieve this.
Do Well By Being Good
Going through the B Corp™ process has helped Water Babies to build our own specific sustainability plan, which provides a key path for where we can grow and improve.
We currently concentrate on reducing our carbon impact and emissions by using third party swimming pools. It’s a more carbon friendly way to deliver lessons and to support local businesses who run these already existing facilities. But there’s more we could be doing, looking at innovative and creative ways for a sustainable future.
With the number of families we support, there’s a lot we can do to work together and create a long-lasting impact on society and the planet we live on.
Project People and Planet
Here is just a snapshot of the goals and key areas of improvement for our future:
- We have our team of ‘Bee Keepers’ in place who identify the areas we need to work on and action how we achieve these goals.
- Investigating and innovating on how we can reduce our carbon impact across the world.
- Work with our suppliers and provide support on how to be sustainable and reduce carbon footprint.
- Reduce the amount of disposable swim nappies ending up in landfill.
- Growing our Children’s Alliance charitable foundation to give back to communities and put children at the heart of decision making.
Together, we can make the world a better place for children, ensuring they have a brighter future.
Want to get involved or have ideas of how we can help our people and planet? Email us at info@waterbabies.co.uk with the subject line ‘B Corp™ Impact.’