Volunteers dive in to fill lifeguard duties on beaches
VOLUNTEERS will patrol beaches across the country amid a shortage of lifeguards in scorching weekend sunshine.
Just 17 Royal National Lifeboat Institution teams will be out this, prompting fury towards managers.
But 30 beaches will be patrolled by around 130 volunteers in Devon and Cornwall, Sussex, Norfolk and Northumberland.
Lookouts
The volunteers are all fullytrained lifeguards who “know every nook and cranny” of their local beaches, and warn people against potentially lifethreatening activities.
Over the Bank Holiday weekend, they made over 700 interventions.
The Surf Life Saving GB charity said it had another 300 applicants hoping to join its beach warden scheme.
Tim Coventry, Chief Executive of SLS GB, said: “With more people likely to avoid going abroad this year, we think the beaches will be incredibly busy and this scheme is going to be far bigger than it was last week.
“They live, breathe, sleep and eat lifesaving.”
However, even the volunteers are not allowed to perform CPR amid fears they could catch or transmit Covid-19.
In the past week there have been two deaths on the Cornish coast and one in Dorset, including a 17-year-old girl.
A major search and rescue operation was also underway to locate a 17-year-old boy who was last seen snorkelling in Dorset.
A group of volunteers in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall added: “This is not sustainable – voluntary lookouts cannot be there everyday.
“We will do as much as we can at the most dangerous and busiest times while there is still no Lifeguard service.”