A charity-sponsored summer course to train youngsters in lifeguarding has been cancelled due to a lack of participants and a venue.

The Red Cross had to pull the plug on its first-ever series of Guardstart courses for 11-14-year-olds, despite having $45,000 funding from the Ross Blackie Talbot Charity Classic golf tournament. Courses for 15-16 year olds and adults have also been affected.

Red Cross director Ann Spencer-Arscott said the decision not to begin the courses on Monday July 6 was made reluctantly on June 26; around 20 people who were signed up were notified.

However, the decision has been criticised by Dean Bottomley, the volunteer in charge of organising the summer programme, who claims it could still have gone ahead.

He told The Royal Gazette that when he complained about the situation, the Red Cross told him his services were no longer required.

According to Mrs. Spencer-Arscott, around 40 participants were needed to make the series of four two-week courses feasible. She told this newspaper the Red Cross only knew of 20 when it decided to cancel the series.

A number of locations, including venues in Southside and the Ariel Sands and Grape Bay resorts, were unavailable for the courses.

"I think there were issues with insurance and liability," she explained. "We couldn't do any advertising as we had no location. It has been very disappointing.

"Also, from the point of view of the people trying to organise their children in a summer camp, that's disappointing. We feel we've let people down."

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott said the Ross Blackie Talbot charity had been informed of the situation. Some of the $45,000 has already been spent on purchasing equipment for the training, and the charity is allowing the Red Cross to keep the remainder to host the courses in future, hopefully next year.

However, Mr. Bottomley claimed that 47 young people had expressed an interest in the training and that of those, 17 said they would definitely do the course.

In addition, he said he came back from a weeklong vacation last Monday to be told the Red Cross had cancelled the event in his absence but found out on Wednesday that the Bermuda Regiment and the Bermuda College were willing to offer venues.

Mr. Bottomley, an American who has worked as a rescue diver and lifeguard for more than 20 years, said: "I think it was cancelled without enough information.

They (the Red Cross) did not realise I had so many people on a database signed up or who had expressed an interest. They were unaware, and they knew I was still trying to find a location."

The Department of Parks offers lifeguarding courses for those aged 16-plus but Mr. Bottomley said he was disappointed that younger people would miss out on training.

"We should be supporting Bermuda's youth. The Ross Blackie Talbot charity was prepared to give us the grant to support these programmes and at the last minute we're telling people it's cancelled. I think it's sad. It's a shame."

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott confirmed that Mr. Bottomley was asked to "remove himself" from his voluntary role as result of the disagreement.

However, she insisted that the Red Cross made a decision based on the information at hand, which suggested the programme was unfeasible.

"He was not giving us the information to get a proper understanding... we did not think it was feasible to have two people in a class. That does not work for us," she told The Royal Gazette.

"Dean knew before he went on vacation that there would be a chance of having to cancel the courses because we had no location."

Clement Talbot, director of the Ross Blackie Talbot Charity Classic, said: "The funds will be held in a segregated account for when they launch the programme and I'm happy with that."