A GROUP of lifesavers from York are looking to spread their message further after winning a national award.

The York Save a Baby's Life group are volunteer Royal Lifesaving Society instructors and host free workshops across the city.

Launched in January 2014, they held 14 sessions on behalf of the drowning prevention charity, attended by 226 people. That number rose to 23 workshops and 389 attendees in 2015.

The efforts of the group, made up of Linda Nelson, Catherine Brunt, Katie Astle and Marie Taylor saw them the RLSS' Brian Morrisey Trophy.

Linda said: "The RLSS give the award to an individual or group who are reaching out to their community. We were judged to have best effort over the year.

"We have more courses running in York than anywhere else in the country. We want to reach out to as many people as possible in the York area.

"We get most of our attendees from Facebook groups. Now we are getting lots of couples coming along when it used to be just mums.

"The aim of the workshops is to show how to cope in the unlikely event of a baby or young child emergency, such as stopping breathing, choking or drowning."

The group already has nine venues planned for 2016. For more information, visit www.rlss.org.uk or email linda.nelson2704@gmail.com