Exmouth Lifeboat Station goes blue to support World Drowning Prevention Day

On Monday night, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s (RNLI) Exmouth station was illuminated in blue light, highlighting the tragic and profound impact of drowning on families and communities across the world.

World Drowning Prevention Day was created through a UN resolution on drowning prevention in 2021, acknowledging the issue for the first time in its 75-year history. According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organisation, drowning is the cause of 235,000 deaths globally every year.

This World Drowning Prevention Day the RNLI supported the National Water Safety Forum’s Respect the Water campaign, which aims to raise awareness of what to do if you see someone struggling in the water.

Steve Instance, Water Safety Lead for the RNLI, said: ‘We’re delighted to help in highlighting World Drowning Prevention Day this year. Thousands of people lose their lives to drowning around the world every year, and we are keen to do all we can in helping to bring this number down, whether that’s through our own work, or through partnerships like this.

‘It’s great to see so many well-known buildings across the south west joining us in going blue – my thanks go to everyone who is supporting this hugely important campaign.’

For more on World Drowning Prevention Day, the World Health Organisation has a wealth of information available on its website: https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-drowning-prevention-day/2022. You can also follow and use the hashtag #DrowningPrevention on social media.

The station joined other sites in turning blue, including Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; Exmouth Lifeboat Station, Exmouth; National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth; Ocean, Exmouth; Pendennis Castle, Falmouth; St Mawes Castle, Truro; Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth.

Notes to editors

For more information or interviews regarding the National Water Safety Forum’s Respect the Water campaign please contact: [email protected] for print media requests or [email protected] and [email protected] for broadcast media requests.

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 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and 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 146,000 lives.

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