“NHS England has confirmed that, following the recent procurement process, contracts for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) services have been awarded for three of the six planned regional centres (East of England, London and South East, and South West). At this time, no contracts have been awarded for the North East, North West, or Midlands regions.
This decision affects four existing hyperbaric chambers — LHM Healthcare (Whipps Cross), Midlands Diving Chamber (Rugby), North England Medical Hyperbaric (Hull) and Hyperbaric Treatment and Training Services (Wirral)— which, unless alternative arrangements are made, they will no longer be under NHS contract as of 1 October 2025.”
“This decision will leave divers across the Midlands and Northern England without timely NHS-funded access to vital recompression facilities — a critical component of emergency treatment for decompression illness.” British Diving Safety Group.
This move raises serious concerns over treatment inequality and regional discrimination. While facilities in the South remain available, divers in the Midlands and North will be left with limited access, significantly compromising diving safety and emergency response capabilities across large geographic areas.
“This isn’t just about geography – it is about fairness, safety and survival” said a Spokesman for the British Diving Safety Group. “Diving emergencies cannot wait and removing access will not save money in the long term. It simply shifts the cost to lives lost, prolongation of treatment and illness. It will also unnecessarily tie up blue light emergency services.” It should also be noted when looking at travel if you are diving in eg of the North East coast and Great Yarmouth is full, there is a potential that you could be shipped down to DDRC for treatment so will not be far off travelling the entire length of England.

The removal of these services raises significant concerns regarding equity of treatment and diving safety. With the absence of these resources, divers in these regions will face increased risks due to delayed access to life-saving treatment. It should also be noted that London divers could also be affected, whilst the Chichester chamber is within an acceptable travel range, it is manned by Royal Navy physicians, it is not clear how are they going to provide a service to the 12 million population of London without affecting the care of their navy divers.

When we also consider out inland dive sites for example Stoney Cove, Matt King, Stoney’s director had this to say, “This is an extremely concerning decision for UK diving. Reducing operating hyperbaric chambers by over 60% and confining coverage to only the east and south of the country places divers who find themselves in difficulty across the midlands and north at significantly larger risk to their health, forcing them to travel far further and longer for appropriate medical attention and placing an unnecessary amount of strain on an already stretched ambulance service.”
The move undermines efforts to ensure a fair and consistent level of safety to all divers, regardless of location. Recompression chambers provide the definitive treatment for those suffering from decompression sickness and are a cornerstone of diving safety management. Without access to these facilities, the risk to divers in affected areas will be significantly heightened, leading to concerns about the integrity of the entire national diving safety framework.
The reduction in diving safety services compromises not only the health of individuals but also the reputation of diving safety management across the country. The lack of a renewed contract for these chambers further exposes the vulnerabilities in our healthcare system and raises concerns about the prioritisation of diver welfare.
“Diving warrants immediate and specialised treatment in the event of decompression illness,” said a Spokesman for the British Diving Safety Group “The absence of contracted chambers in central and northern regions of England exposes divers to increased health risks and undermines national diving safety protocols.”
The decision highlights a growing inequity in NHS service provision and has been met with alarm by diving safety advocates, emergency responders, and the wider diving community. With the UK’s extensive coastline and inland dive sites, ensuring timely nationwide access to recompression services is vital to safe diving practices and emergency preparedness.
Stakeholders including the dive training agencies are today urging NHS England to reconsider this move and engage with diving and medical communities to develop a more equitable model of care.

A petition will also be released, please an I ask all to sign it and discuss this with your MPs

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Arnewood Divers are proud to announce that we have been awarded a grant from Sport England to support the construction of a fully accessible dive boat. This is a monumental step for our club, and we are honoured to be one of the few Sub-Aqua Association clubs  to successfully apply for and receive this funding.

This grant will be used to develop a brand-new accessible diving platform built on top of a recently acquired hull. The boat will be purpose-built to ensure inclusivity and access for divers, opening up the underwater world to a wider and more diverse community.

“We believe diving should be for everyone,” said a spokesperson for Arnewood Divers. “Our goal is to make this vision a reality through collaboration, shared experiences, and inclusive opportunities for all SAA divers.”

A Call to All SAA Clubs

Arnewood Divers would like to extend a warm invitation to all SAA dive clubs to connect, collaborate, and dive together. Let’s create more shared diving adventures across the UK – visiting each other’s sites, welcoming one another with standard membership rates and no additional guest fees.

Let’s build a stronger SAA community by diving more together.

We hope our success will inspire other SAA clubs to explore similar opportunities. If you’re considering applying for a grant or want support, we’d be happy to share our journey.

Upcoming Diver First Aid Refresher – All Welcome

Arnewood Divers will be running a Diver First Aid Refresher course on [SUN 11 MAY 25], and you’re very welcome to join us if you’re in the area. This session is designed for qualified First Aiders whose certification is due for renewal.

To take part, you must hold a current First Aid qualification, fill in a National Course Aplication Form https://saa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/National-Course-Application-Form.pdf).

Please contact Arnewood Divers Diving Officer Wendy Holt email:adsac.training@gmail.com in advance to apply.

Support Our Vision

To help bring this accessible boat to life, we have launched a crowdfunding campaign. Any donation, big or small, will make a real difference. Together, we can create a more inclusive and connected diving community.

 https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/new-dive-boat-for-local-scuba-divers

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The Zenobia was a Swedish roll-on roll off ferry which in June of 1980 was traveling from Sweden to Syria. She reached Cyprus at the of port Larnaca, where here  she developed a problem with the ballast computer, which led to water being pumped to the port tanks which in turn became the main cause in her sinking.

She was carrying 104 articulated trucks valued at £200,000,000 the salvage rights to the wreck have never been agreed.

The Zenobia lies on a sandy sea bed on her port side at approximately 42 metres fully intact, including the main propellers, all her cargo  as well as the Captains Blue Skoda car!

We arranged an inclusive dive package holiday with Alpha Divers based in Larnaca, this included flights from Manchester/Lanaca, Accommodation in city centre apartments close to the harbour and 6 days diving with between 2/3 dives a day. The dives were all carried out using 28% EAN x gas mix for safety purposes.

Our diving started the morning after our arrival with the warm (24 degree C) Mediterranean Sea awaiting, everyone was
expectant and excited at the same time of how good the diving would be.

Arriving at the site of the Zenobia wreck we received a full dive briefing, which occurred for all the dives throughout the week. We were assigned Dive guides who would lead us on all our dives.

The first dive of the trip was to be a familiarisation dive on the Zenobia. The decent/assent to and from the wreck was always via the fixed shot line which is securely fixed mid ship to the wreck allowing divers to carry out safety stops using the shot line

The first dive included a trip across the hull to the stern of the ship to visit and swim around the twin propellers of the ship, on the return trip to the shot line the local resident turtle made a short appearance which was a great bonus for a fantastic first dive.

The following day due to  windier conditions  we went shore Diving to the Greko caves and the underwater sculpture park (MUSAN) at Ayia Napa https://musan.com.cy/about 

The next  day with the wind having abated we spent our time diving on the Zenobia and also on the wreck of the Elpida. A ship sunk on purpose to create an artificial reef.

The following morning was to be our last dive of the week on the Zenobia, and Alpha Divers had left the best dive of the week to the last, a penetration dive into the main engine room at the stern of the wreck at around 35-40 m.

Everyone agreed a most memorable and enjoyable last dive to round off a fantastic week’s diving.

A big thank you goes to the APLHA Divers team, especially to the dive guides who were extremely professional,
approachable and good natured and made the week extremely pleasurable.

Bill Ritchie
Preston Divers

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The SAA is made up of volunteers who put in an incredible amount of work in running clubs, courses, regions and the SAA nationally. There are some people who always seem to  be  putting  in  that extra effort over and above everyone else or  going far beyond the minimum requirements of their roles. Now is your chance to acknowledge the efforts of these people.

You can say “a big thank you” to those hard-working Regional Instructors, Club Officers, and Instructors, Divers, Clubs and Regions that you’ve been able to rely on throughout the year by nominating them for an SAA Award.

In addition the SAA Awards recognise achievements in Archaeology and Conservation.

The awards criteria and nomination forms are available from Head Office or the SAA website.

Closing date for nominations is Friday 24th January 2025

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It was back in 1972 when Ocean Conservancy started working with various agencies and communities around the world to inspire people to do their bit to save our oceans. In the beginning their focus was on protecting species like whales, seals and sea turtles but now they’re also working to protect their habitats. They’ve been coordinating the International Coastal Cleanup days for many years now and are asking for volunteers to aid in their efforts. CMAS is just one of the many international agencies supporting this activity and as the UK representative of CMAS, it’s something we’d welcome SAA clubs supporting too if possible.

If you’re able to participate by cleaning beaches, waterways and the seas then why not keep a track of your activity and log it on the Clean Swell app? It’s a fantastic way of seeing the progress made by all the volunteers. In the years of the ICC more than 12 million volunteers have been involved and more than 228 million pounds of rubbish has been collected.

If you’ve got plans on 15^thSeptember, don’t panic. You can still be involved as the collection of rubbish needs to happen 365 days of the year. Download a form and let the wider community to know where you’re doing your bit. Divers and non divers, let’s all get behind this activity.

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The success of the TV series Blue Planet has helped raise awareness of the destruction we humans are having on the waters around the world. Coral bleaching is a term many of us are now aware of and some of us have seen the way the coral changes appearance, when bleaching has occurred, for ourselves.

Coral reefs provide an important basis for marine life and a healthy eco-system so the work being done by dedicated scientists to help create new reefs, like those in Belize is one solution. The ongoing efforts by members of the Coral Reef Alliance and others to develop sustainable conservation of reefs is now critical. Earlier in 2018 a new initiative was announced by the Australian government to try and save the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s best known coral reef system.

Let’s hope that with the combined efforts we will be able to halt the destruction of reefs and know that scuba divers of the future will also be able to experience the amazement we have when seeing vast expanse of coral for the first time.

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Once the formal business of the Annual General Meeting was concluded, minutes of which will be provided to all club secretaries in due course, it was time for the association to honour members. Awards were presented to individuals in recognition of their amazing achievements over the last 12 months, as well as the much-desired Golden Club award.

The Kenn Tyler Award for Instruction

This award was given to an SAA instructor who gives his time to members of his club, conducting lectures and pool training, each week to develop individuals and help them on their scuba diving journey. He also attends training dives at 8 Acre and Stoney Cove to assist and assess divers. In addition, he also works with members of other local clubs to aid them in delivering their training to members. In addition to working tirelessly in training divers, he has also achieved his Regional Instructor training and helped with regional courses in both the Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside Regions.
Chris Kean, a member of Mansfield and District Scuba Diving Club (942) was the well deserved winner of the Kenn Tyler Award. His passion, enthusiasm, energy and commitment to diving knows no bounds.

The George Arnold Trophy for Conservation

A very active member of his local club, Ilkeston and Kimberley Sub Aqua Club (945) the recipient of this award was Tony Stacey. Tony has been devoting many weekends to assist with the Community Seagrass Initiative, being undertaken on the south coast. This science project aims to raise awareness of seagrass habitats and involves regular monitoring the health and biodiversity of the south west’s seagrass beds.
In addition, Tony has written an article for the SAA’s newsletter to make other members aware of this project as well as encouraging members of his own club and clubs elsewhere in the region to become involved. Tony was selected to be the recipient of this trophy in recognition of his time, dedication, enthusiasm and commitment to this important initiative.

Tony was unable to attend the AGM, but his trophy was awarded by his club Diving Officer at a club event.

The Zanelli Charlton Award

The recipients of this award are any SAA Regional Representative or Co-ordinator. It is nominated by members of the National Executive and is given in recognition of the winner’s commitment to the association. This year the winner was Cherie Winnard, the Regional Representative for Yorkshire and Humberside.

Cherie is the Diving Officer of her club, Mansfield and District Sub Aqua Club (942), and during the last year has taken on the role of Regional Representative for a different area following a vacancy. She has organised numerous courses and dedicated many weekends to the continued development of divers. In addition, Cherie is working on the 02EDFA course and updating the course program. Cherie works tirelessly to train individuals and her enthusiasm knows no bounds.

Unfortunately, Cherie was unable to attend the AGM, but her award was received by a member  of her club Anne Kean.

The SAA Medallion for Life Saving

As divers we all understand the risk involved in our sport and hope that the time we need intervention of a fellow diver will never arise. The winner of this award was Lee Poxon of Teckno Club, in recognition of his prompt action when faced with a fellow scuba diver who was suffering from a DCI.

After the incident, Lee assessed the situation, administering first aid and oxygen to the casualty. Without Lee’s quick thinkings and actions the diver could have suffered long term effects from his DCI.

We’re sure you’ll agree, Lee is a very worthy recipient of the award and it goes to show that the training procedures we all learn can help save a life when the need arises.

The Golden Club Award

Calne Divers is a very active club conducting dives and training throughout the year. Their committee is hard working and committed to developing the sport and individuals.

The club has many instructors who not only train and develop at a local level but are also very active in regional training. Members of this club are often seen undertaking regional courses as well as assisting others in their training by offering divers to play the role of trainees and surface cover in regional training.

Calne Divers also play an active role in the community, arranging projects such as regular clean-ups of a local waterway in conjunction with other organisations and providing free safety cover for a local river festival. Members of the club have also participated in research conducted by the British Diver Safety Group.

The enthusiastic team at Calne Divers ensure they have a strong social media presence and are often featured in local news articles and on local television programs. We’re sure you’ll agree, they are working wonders to raise awareness of the amazing sport of scuba diving and are well deserved winners of this award.

The award was received by John Hunt – a member of Calne Divers.

SAA Certificate

Whilst on their National Diver training, Ceri Jones and Richard Grice went above and beyond when one of their fellow candidates became ill. When the diver became ill and was unable to drive his car home, Lee and Richard offered to return the car which involved driving from Dosthill to Liverpool, before returning home to South Wales.

Their thoughtful actions were much appreciated by the ill candidate’s family and certainly gave them one less thing to think about during such a difficult time.  Richy also accepted the award on behalf of Ceri Jones

Another certificate was presented to Claire Mortimer in recognition of the work she has done both for her local club and the SAA in terms of activity on Facebook and marketing in general, as well as working on the redesign of the association’s website.

National Diver

2017 – 2018 has been a record year for the association with 5 members having achieved this highest of diver grades available within the SAA. Ceri Jones,Lee Poxon, Richard Grice, Darren Slater and Keith Greenlees worked extremely hard to achieve this qualification.

National Divers have to prove their capabilities in organising, and participating in, diving expeditions and other diving activities with a particular stress on safety and emergency procedures. Where applicable, they may also choose to prove their competence in a given specialised area or in a scientific discipline. Candidates also have to pass an extensive test of their theoretical diving knowledge covering Advanced Dive Planning, Health and Safety, Risk Assessments and general diving knowledge to an advanced level.

As Keith Greenlees was on holiday, Gordon Greenan accepted the certificate on his behalf

L-R Darren Slater, Ceri Jones, Gordon Greenan, Richy Grice, Lee Poxon

Retirement Gift

Maureen Pillinger has been a member of the Executive for 21 years in the role of Secretary, and most recently Treasurer. Her knowledge of all things SAA is limitless and she will be sorely missed by her colleagues on the National Council, the Executive and of course members of the SAA. As a thank you for her years of service, Maureen was presented with a watch and she received a well deserved standing ovation at the presentation.

Leaving Gifts

Gary Asson stood down as National Diving Officer for the association after the AGM and was presented with a bronze diver and tankard in recognition of the work and commitment has given to the role during his three year tenure.

Frances Aldridge received a glass tankard as a thank you for the year she gave to the association as Representative of the Eastern region, following a move to the other end of the country.

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