Some brave RNLI volunteers face 10m waves and force 9 gales; others find themselves at the mercy of 30 excitable 5-year-olds. So how do we help save lives from the relative safety of the classroom?

Ask a child what they learned at school today and you’ll get a variety of answers, usually including ‘nothing’, ‘can’t remember’ and ‘stuff’. But after a visit from the RNLI, many boys and girls have a lot more to say:

‘An RNLI man, Nick, came to our class and told us about the lifeboats and lifeguards. Two of my friends got dressed up in big lifesaver kit. That was fun! We had a giant poster and we spotted all the dangers at the beach. I learned not to go out of my depth at the beach and to not jump off a cliff! I'm now doing a rookie lifeguarding course at my local pool,’ enthuses Bobby, aged 9.

‘The presenter showed us a video of what to do if you see somebody else in trouble at sea or if you're in trouble. He made us all understand about the lifeboats and volunteers. You should swim between the red and yellow lifeguard flags at the beach, wear a wetsuit when the water’s cold and not go out too deep or swim near boats,' recalls Flo, aged 9.

RNLI Education presenters spoke to more than300,000 children like Bobby and Flo in 2013. They help keep children safe with water safety messages and also tell them about our charity. Their focus is currently with primary schools, where the children tend to be more receptive to safety messages than teenagers. And those messages really can spell the difference between life and death.

Seventeen children under 10 years old drown each year in coastal and inland waters in the UK alone. Canals, rivers and lakes can be as lethal as the sea, so the RNLI presenters take their water safety messages inland as well as near the coast.

They have the same ethos as all RNLI lifesavers: they will help anyone at risk on the water, regardless of whether they support us or where they’re from. And, like our lifeboat crews, they are volunteers. They go into schools, save lives, and ask for nothing in return.

Lessons learned
We’ll never know how many lives have been saved through RNLI Education, as Viv Featherstone, RNLI Senior Youth Education Manager, acknowledges: ‘You can never measure an accident that doesn’t happen. It doesn’t make the news headlines when a child swam safely between the red and yellow flags.’

But, once in a while, we hear true stories that show how education volunteers are saving lives at sea. Jasmin Rafferty was just 13 when she got into trouble in the sea at Redcar Beach. She was swimming one hot Summer’s day when she was swept 150m out by a strong tide. Despite being extremely tired and cold, she remembered RNLI lifesaving tips given at Rye Hills School.

Jasmin recalls: ‘I was absolutely exhausted – I just wanted to close my eyes, but I remembered tips from the RNLI workshop not to tread water, but to save energy by crossing my arms across my chest and floating on my back until help arrived.’ The RNLI launched its crew within 6 minutes, saving Jasmin in the nick of time.

Without Education presenters, Jasmin wouldn’t have survived long enough for the crew to save her. Top marks for teamwork from our intrepid Education volunteers. But how do they set about their lifesaving lessons?

We’ve done our homework
Education volunteers adapt their presentations to the topics being taught that term, thrilling children and teachers alike. They include PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education), Citizenship or project work such as the seaside, heroes or people who help us. Whatever the topic, education volunteers are on a mission to bring it to life.

Our Education Team offers schools and youth groups a wide range of free RNLI online resources too. There are over 100 teaching resources at RNLI.org/education for 5–14-year-olds, from a lesson plan making a soap-powered boat to a whiteboard exercise about rip currents.

Present and correct
Even the most boisterous group of children will be stunned into silence by an RNLI video showing a stateof- the-art lifeboat crashing through 10m waves. But what sort of person can keep youngsters’ attention for a whole presentation – and get the safety messages through to the group? ‘Somebody who has a feeling about keeping people safe, who likes to meet people and learn new skills,’ answers Viv Featherstone. ‘It helps if they’re used to presenting, to adults or children.’

From retired teachers to 16-year-olds, presenters come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some do it for the love of everything RNLI, while others have a particular interest, whether it’s coastal safety or RNLI heritage.

Teaching tools
Like our well-trained lifeboat crew and lifeguards, the volunteers who go into schools and youth groups are given the training and resources they need to save lives. Trainees have a full induction, learn from experienced presenters and undergo safeguarding training,carried out by their Youth Education Manager who supports them in their local area.

When they stand in front of the class on their own, they’re well prepared, with film clips of rescues, photos and props to inspire the children and help keep them safe. Some presenters even show groups around lifeboat stations, lifeguarded beaches and museums. The kids (and teachers!) are often so enthused by the presenters that they fundraise for the RNLI to help save lives at sea: another way that our education programme helps to save lives for years to come.

'YOUNGER KIDS CAN GET VERY EXCITED!'
Jack Lancaster, 20, first volunteered for the RNLI at the age of 16, and his youth and enthusiasm helps him reach children and young adults. ‘I’ve been an RNLI supporter since I was a child myself. Mum got me involved in Storm Force [the RNLI’s club for kids]. I’d just started sailing when I volunteered for the RNLI as an education presenter 4 years ago,' says Jack. ‘Being quite young was a good thing. I could relate to people at college and school more. 16–20-year-olds are a high-risk group around the water so it’s good to give them safety messages. If I deliver the presentation in an exciting way that appeals to me, it’ll appeal to the audience. Younger kids can get very excited. I grab their attention at the start with rescue photos. You can feel the buzz – the gasps start at the front and go to the back. In the future I hope to be on the actual crew too, but for now I volunteer to save lives through prevention.’

'NO TWO PRESENTATIONS ARE THE SAME'
Walter Lee shares safety messages with children and adults alike. ‘When I’m down at my local marina, giving out sea safety messages, it’s often the kids that come up to me first. Get the children in, and adults follow,' he explains. ‘It’s the children who lead their families to swim between the flags at the beach. By reaching the children we make whole families aware of the dangers and the precautions to take.

‘I’ve given talks to 3-year-olds up to a 94-year-old. No two presentations are the same. I make sure I cover the basics – water safety and what the RNLI does – and then I go where the conversation goes, get them involved. If the children are engaged, they’ll remember the safety messages and the RNLI for years to come.’