Beach safety starts long before anyone reaches the beach
As part of our commitment to keeping our community safe, our Sidmouth Beach Lifeguards are once again spending the summer term visiting local schools to share vital beach and water safety advice.
This year, we’ve visited 23 schools, from Newton Poppleford in the west to Seaton in the east, and as far inland as Honiton and Upottery, reaching around 3,000 pupils, as well as their teachers and school staff.
During each visit, we cover a wide range of topics, including:
- The role of a beach lifeguard
- Understanding beach safety flags
- Cold water shock and the Float to Live technique
- The dangers of tombstoning
- How to call 999 and ask for the Coastguard
- The role of the lifeboat and other emergency services
This is now our sixth year of delivering these talks, and it’s fantastic to see just how much children’s knowledge and awareness of beach safety has grown over that time.
Education is one of the most important ways we can help prevent incidents before they happen. Alongside our school visits, we also welcome community groups to our lifeboat station for a lifeboat safety talk, followed by practical beach and water safety sessions with our lifeguards.
If you’d like our lifeguards to visit your school or community group, we’d love to hear from you.
📧 beachsafety@sidmouthlifeboat.org.uk
Together, we can help more people enjoy our coastline safely.