Our Dedicated & Passionate Team
Danielle Obe, accomplished Business Change & Integration Management Consultant, is 1 of 4 Co-founders and the Chair of the Black Swimming Association (the BSA). Under Danielle's leadership, the BSA has gone from a simple concept to a nationally recognised fledgling organisation positioned as a disruptive force within the aquatic sector. The BSA is on course, tackling inherent systemic and institutional inequalities, breaking barriers to participation and driving change for more ethnic diversity in aquatics; ensuring everyone has equal and equitable access, feels included and has a SAFE and quality experience in and around water. Danielle is also an entrepreneur, mother of three avid swimmers and inventor of the Nemes, a simple yet revolutionary and versatile aquatic aid designed to solve a significant barrier to aquatics
Ed Accura is a British songwriter and host of the In The Deep podcast. Ed is also the writer and producer of the Blacks Can’t Swim documentary series, which highlights the frightening reality of just how many Black, Asian, and minority ethnic people in the UK are unable to swim. The films depict the effects of the stigma, stereotypes and myths highlighting the views of various people of Black, Asian, ethnically diverse heritage and their relationship with swimming and the water. The aim of the film is to help eradicate negative views associated with black people and swimming, as well as to encourage more people to learn to swim in an attempt to reduce the number of deaths by drowning.
Alice is an elite British swimmer, specialising in open water and marathon events. As the second black person to represent Great Britain's senior team on the international stage, the welfare of black people in swimming is close to her heart. She is big advocate for diversity in British elite swimming. Alice is currently training to become the first black swimmer and person of colour to qualify for Team GB's Olympic swimming team for 2020 games in Tokyo in the marathon swimming event.
Seren Jones is a Welsh, Zimbabwean ex-BBC broadcast journalist specialising in documentary-making and podcast production. In one of her feature documentaries called 'Black Girls Don’t Swim,' Seren investigated why there’s such a shortage of black women in elite swimming when black women are so dominant in dry-land sports. Prior to her time at the BBC, Seren was a student-athlete and elite swimmer at Long Island University in New York. Seren co-founded the BSA because she wanted others to understand how much swimming can shape your life, and help the community understand the endless opportunities it has to offer.
At the BSA, we collaborate with national aquatic governing bodies, brands and other charities in order to drive participation, engagement and inclusion for African, Caribbean and Asian communities in aquatics. We have an Executive Advisory Group who also support us in collective decision making.
Trustee Members: Danielle Obe (Chair), Seren Jones, Alice Dearing and Will Barkway
OUR TEAM
Swansea contact, programme coordination, team coordination, event planning, risk assessments and logistics.
internal operations and finances, GDPR, legal, training, policies and procedures, HR liaison.
Water Safety, education strategy.
Community engagement strategies, community relationships, TWC delivery partner.
Research programme, evaluation, and implementation of insights.
aquatic pathways programme, youth development programme.
Marketing materials and designs, campaigns, PR liaison, press releases, online brand - website development, social media
data and insights, data protection during projects.
programme design and delivery, TWC reporting, on-site - health & safety, risk assessments, safeguarding.
Wales region, Wales programme delivery and development, mapping in Wales.