Busy Year for Largs R.N.L.I. Community safety team
The RNLI Largs Community safety team have had an exceptionally busy year.
During the year the Team have been involved with fellow volunteers attending 41 events within that area.
The Team were present during a three day event at Scotlands Boat Show, their key message, targeted at Yacht and Boat owners being the well known saying, ''Lifejackets are USELESS unless worn''.
At their popular Free of Charge Life Jacket Clinics the Team were able to establish that 80% of the Lifejackets inspected could be potentially be classed as faulty and may fail to inflate in the event of an emergency.
The Team's second key message concerns Devices suitable to Call for Help in an emergency.
An RNLI official commented that everyone now has a mobile phone, since most mobile phones work via line of sight signal to a telephone mast, the caller only has to loose that line of sight and the signal is also lost.
Although mobile phones are not ideal for the purpose they are better than having nothing, however, at their road show events they are promoting safety awareness devices that work via a GPS signal.
These devices although used mainly offshore are equally suitable for anyone taking to the countryside, Hill Walkers, Mountain Bikers, Dog Walkers , Fly Fishermen and so on.
A high percentage of the 41 events were family days attended by Parents, Grandparents and children giving the Team the opportunity to drive home the ''Cold Water Shock'' message and the Dangers of jumping into Quarries, Lochs and Reservoirs and what to do if this happens supported by RNLI'S ''Float to Live like a Starfish'' campaign.
The CST held a 2018 Childrens' Drawing Competition to win an RNLI T-Shirt, over 100 excellent drawings making picking a winner difficult, over the length of the competition more than 22 children aged between 3 and 12 were winners all of whom received a T-Shirt.
There is an intention to produce a collage of entries to be placed on the poster-board outside the lifeboat station for viewing later in the year, so, do come and have a look.
Next Year's competition will follow a similar format as 2018 the 2019 theme will be ''Spot the Danger on the Beach , Harbour, River ''
Within Area 32 the Volunteer CST are currently reviewing 12 requests for an RNLI presence at 2019 events which will cover off and on shore safety advice.
Largs CST are always on the lookout for volunteers to join them in this very worthwhile and rewarding activity, please come along and give us your support.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.