Charlie Pope Dad backs drowning campaign

3 December 2018, 18:17 | Updated: 3 December 2018, 18:24

A new campaign to make people more aware of the dangers of walking along a canal after drinking alcohol has been backed the dad of a of a Manchester Uni student, who drowned in March.

Nick Pope's son, Charlie, was found in the Rochdale canal after falling in after a night out in Manchester.

Charlie's parents were alerted by a friend of the 19-year-old after he'd been on a night out at the Zombie Shack on New Wakefield Street but had gone missing in the early hours.

The last CCTV of him showed him heading towards the canal. Drivers trawled the waters for hours before his body was found.

The Pope family are from Newcastle but Charlie was in his first year of a social sciences degree at the University of Manchester.

Nick Pope said: "You never think it's going to happen to you - Myself and the rest of the family have been left devastated by the loss of Charlie."

Nick and the rest of the family are backing a campaign by the Royal Life Saving Society who have launched tir annual 'Don't drink and drown' message.

Nick says: "Particularly a this time of year, when a lot of people are going on work nights out for Christmas, it's just so important that people look out for each other.

"The message is to find alternative ways of getting home, avoid the waterways and stay together.

"With alcohol you lose your inhibitions. Certainly in the case of where Charlie fell in in Manchester, visibility is not very good and there's no barriers or railings there to stop you from falling in."

Mike Dunn from the Royal Life Saving Society said: "Around 30% of the people who drown in the UK do so after they have consumed alcohol.

So at this time of year, especially when people will be going out a bit more, and going to christmas parties, it's a really important time to raise awareness of that so that they can safely void the water after they've had a drink.

Below is some of the advice the society give in order to stay safe: