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Training day with the Southend-on-Sea RNLI volunteer water safety team

Lifeboats News Release

RNLI water safety experts Nick Fecher and Craig Maltby spent a day at Southend-on-Sea RNLI inshore lifeboat station training and refreshing the Southend RNLI volunteer water safety team.

The volunteer water safety team inspecting life jackets under the supervision of the trainers

RNLI/Nigel Gilchrist

Personal Floatation Device inspections

As water sports advance and more people enjoy and earn their living in our waters, water safety technology changes regularly. It’s vital that the charity’s water safety advisors keep up to date with the latest available technology and techniques.

The volunteers first covered different ways of calling for help, including VHF radio, Mobile phones, EPIRB’s, pyrotechnic and electronic distress flares, AIS and GPS Personal Locator Beacons (PLB’s). Something as simple as a waterproof mobile phone case has saved many lives.

The next item on the training program is Personal Rescue Equipment, focusing on throw bags as they are one of the preferred options for assisting casualties from on the shore or riverbanks. The volunteers are shown how to use throw bags effectively and use any item available to reach casualties from the safety of dry land.

After a lunch break with plentiful refreshments, Southend RNLI water safety team led by Allan Barttram, Water Safety Officer, had some fun practicing with the throw bags outside.

Man overboard (MOB) equipment was next looked at. Safety lines, Dan buoys, Horseshoe buoys, MOB throw bags, rescue slings how and when to use them were all looked at. It’s all well and good having the equipment, but useless if you don’t know how to use it. RNLI volunteers encourage people to practice and get familiar with the safety equipment onboard.

One of the most important pieces of safety equipment everyone who enjoys being in or on the water or fishing from hazardous areas should have, is the Personal Floatation Device (PFD). Lifejackets and life preservers. Part of the training is PFD inspections, how they work and which PFD is right for the job. Nick and Craig bought in several types of PFD with defects for the volunteers to find during inspections for a hands-on exercise. The RNLI offer free PFD checks and advice to anyone.


A very enjoyable and educational day for the Southend RNLI volunteer water safety team.

RNLI volunteer Water Safety Advisors visit schools, clubs and workplaces as well as RNLI events, passing on this valuable information, educating people on how to enjoy the water safely, what precautions to take and what to do in an emergency.

Water safety contributes to the RNLI’s vision of saving every one, by developing Water Safety and Lifesaving Plans and working with Partners to help influence improved safety, to reduce the number of preventable deaths and incidents that occur within local coastal and inland waterway environments.

The RNLI volunteer water safety teams are responsible for preventing hundreds of lives being lost purely by educating people.

Southend-on-Sea RNLI water safety advisers visit and receive visits from schools and clubs on a regular basis. For more information on visits contact:

[email protected].

The RNLI have an extremely helpful water safety resources web page to suit all water activities, for more information follow the link:

https://rnli.org/safety/choose-your-activity.

Notes to editors:

Southend-on-Sea RNLI operate four rescue craft, housed in two boathouses. Two D-Class inshore lifeboats, an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat and one of the four rescue Hovercraft around our coast.

Everyone of more than 100 people at Southend RNLI is a volunteer for the charity that saves lives at sea.

Photo credit: Nigel Gilchrist.

RNLI Media contacts

  • Nigel Gilchrist, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Southend-on-Sea RNLI, 07765875300 or [email protected],
  • Beth Robson | RNLI Regional Communications Manager – North, East and South East, 07977728294 or email: [email protected],
  • For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

RNLI online: For more information on the RNLI please visit http://www.rnli.org/. News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI News Centre.

Key facts about the RNLI

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. Our volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 237 lifeboat stations, including four along the River Thames and inland lifeboat stations at Loch Ness, Lough Derg, Enniskillen and Lough Ree. Additionally the RNLI has more than 1,000 lifeguards on over 180 beaches around the UK and operates a specialist flood rescue team, which can respond anywhere across the UK and Ireland when inland flooding puts lives at risk.

The RNLI relies on public donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. As a charity it is separate from, but works alongside, government-controlled and funded coastguard services. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 our lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved at least 140,000 lives. Volunteers make up 95% of the charity, including 4,600 volunteer lifeboat crew members and 3,000 volunteer shore crew. Additionally, tens of thousands of other dedicated volunteers raise funds and awareness, give safety advice, and help in our museums, shops and offices.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 or by email.

The RNLI is a charity registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SC037736). Charity number 20003326 in the Republic of Ireland.

RNLI Water Safety Education Manager Craig Maltby giving a lecture

RNLI/Nigel Gilchrist

RNLI Water Safety Education Manager Craig Maltby
RNLI Water Safety Delivery Support Nick Fecher demonstrating the throw bag

RNLI/Nigel Gilchrist

RNLI Water Safety Delivery Support Nick Fecher demonstrating the throw bag
Southend RNLI volunteer water safety team practicing the throw bag technique

RNLI/Nigel Gilchrist

RNLI volunteer water safety team practicing the throw bag technique

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.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

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.