Sea safety around the coast helping to save lives at sea

There's nothing better than throwing on your big winter coat and heading out along the coastline for a winter's walk. It clears the mind (and the nose), it refreshes the senses and generally ends in a nice cosy pub for a warming bite to eat and a drink. Sometimes however we can find ourselves or someone else in need of help.

The RNLI are the charity who saves lives at sea and are on call 24/7 365 days a year. To call for help from the RNLI, call the coastguard on 999.

Rock volunteer lifeboat crew launched recently to reports of a dog in need of rescuing, thankfully once on scene the call was a false alarm with good intention, if you are unsure, it is always better to call it in than not.

If you are walking dogs on cliff tops please remember to keep them on a lead. If your dog enters the water and is in trouble please do not enter the water, call for help and try to keep a visual on the dog from the safety of land.

If you find yourself in the water, remember to float to live and call for help, more information on this can be found at www.rnli.org.uk

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.