Lifeguards back to help on beach
Lifeguards will now be at beaches including those at King Edwards Bay, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay and Whitley Bay North.
These services add to those at Longsands, Sandhaven and Seaburn beaches, which went live in June.
Councillor John Kelly, cabinet member for Vibrant city at Sunderland City Council, said: ‘We’re delighted to see RNLI lifeguards returning to Roker Beach this Saturday, in addition to the ones we already have on duty at Seaburn Beach.
“But it’s also important that we all know how to keep ourselves and others safe near water.
“So we would encourage anyone planning on heading to the beach this summer to check out the advice on the RNLI website: https:// rnli.org/safety before setting out and to keep on an eye on their families when they are there.”
New measures to deal with coronavirus will see RNLI lifeguards wearing PPE in some situations, while new protocols for all first responders mean the lifeguards may not deal with some minor first aid cases but will support people to treat themselves.
They will also try to keep socially distant from beach goers and may need to adopt different patrol methods at times, such as asking people to keep apart but close to shore.
Darren Lewis, RNLI Lifesaving Manager, North and East, said: “I want to thank all those lifeguards who have already started their patrols or are now preparing to get back on the beach – they know this will be a challenging summer and are doing a brilliant job helping to keep the public safe during this pandemic.”