Lifesaving Advert

I'd been planning a kayak trip again today but unexpected visitors meant I stayed home. As usual it was lovely to see Annika and her dog Monya, but as an added bonus we met Josef, her three-year-old grandson too. He helped pick blackcurrants and redcurrants and once he'd eaten his fill he donated his other pickings to me. I obviously responded in the right way because he started taking blackcurrants from his grandma and then giving them to me!
After they had gone home we were down to our usual swimming place to cool off after another very hot day.  Looking for a blip I focussed on this lifesaver. In virtually all swimming places in Sweden where someone takes responsibility for the place you will find one or two of these life-belts + throwing line. This particular one is ordered by our local council They are donated by a major insurance company and basically if you ask for one you'll get it for the cost of the postage, and a promise to check it's OK every spring and autumn.  They’ve been doing this since 1954 and have given away 200,000 over the years and reckon there are 80,000 around Sweden today. On average they save 14 lives every year.
OK - it is an advert for the insurance company (their trademark is a red and white lifebuoy) and having your name up at every swimming place can't be a bad thing, but even so, it also seems a very worthwhile public service.

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