Whether people walk by the sea, have fun on it, or save lives in it, we want them to stay safe. Lifeguards like those pictured on our front page face tough training to prepare them: high standards of fitness, safety knowledge and rescue skills are all vital.

A big part of their role this Summer will be prevention – spotting the hazards and warning people about them before they get into danger (see page 20). We’re doing more and more of that sort of lifesaving as we try and reduce coastal deaths – around 165 such tragedies still happen every year.

And when our lifesavers are called into action, some rescues call on very specific skills – see page 14 for more on how the crew of a massive cargo ship were saved with the help of our volunteers. One of them used his experience as a tree surgeon to go to the rescue! That kind of selflessness and courage, combined with the outstanding training and kit that you help to fund, will save many more lives this year – on and offshore.

CORRECTION

Last issue we stated that the date for Mayday, our big 2015 fundraising event, is 22–25 May. I’m sorry to say this was printed in error and the correct date is actually 1–4 May. The good news is that there’s still time to get involved – see the back page for details.

Editor:
Rory Stamp
@LifeboatRory