RNLI Volunteers Committed to Rescues During Christmas Season

A volunteer with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stated that rescue crews “will always respond” to calls, even when these occur during Christmas festivities. Susan Beaton, who serves as a helm at RNLI Portishead, noted that the holiday season tends to be “quite busy” due to a significant number of individuals visiting the coast for swimming or sailing on Christmas Day. During the 2023 holiday period, teams operating in the South West region were dispatched on 17 occasions to assist individuals in distress in the water. Tom Mansell, the regional operations lead, commented: “We’re so proud of our volunteers who are committed to saving lives at sea 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” Ms. Beaton is among numerous volunteers nationwide who remain on call on Christmas Day. She explained: “There’s no drinking… there’s a little bit of relaxing, but you are waiting for that pager to go off and potentially leave your family, friends, your Christmas dinner, to go help somebody in need.” She further mentioned that volunteers on call must remain near their stations for potential deployment, which prevents her from spending the day at home with her family in Scotland. Several years prior, on Christmas Day, Ms. Beaton received a call around 23:50 GMT regarding an individual experiencing difficulty while swimming. She recounted: “Luckily that person was absolutely fine and by the time we got there they’d recovered themselves, but you’re still willing to respond and go out into the dark and cold to help somebody.” The RNLI marked its 200th anniversary of saving lives at sea this year. Since its establishment, over 146,000 individuals have been rescued. Ms. Beaton offered advice to anyone intending to enter the water during the holiday season, recommending preparation with lifejackets, wetsuits, and appropriate safety equipment. She stated: “If you find yourself in trouble, always call 999 and ask for the coastguard. “If it’s another person that’s in trouble or a family pet, please don’t go into the water yourself and put yourself at risk. “We will always respond.”