Volunteer as a Coastguard

Ever wondered what we really do ?

Did you know that the rescue teams are volunteers?

Want to know more?

Could you join us? Check to see where the vacancies are or let us know your interested as there may be vacancies soon.

Do something exciting in 2016 - volunteer and be part of your community.

Coastguard Rescue Officers - This is What We Do

Every day this week, we've shown you some photos from our cliff training session last Sunday. This video shows a little more about what we do and how we do it. 

 Could you??

Water Rescue Training

This weekend the team will be training in water rescue, hopefully the sea will be a bit rough and cold! I say that as I'm watching this weekend rather than taking part!

It's a bit like coasteering in a sense.

To ensure safety, the team check the weather conditions and the tide times before training; and then check again on the local conditions before we get in the water. A safe place is found to access, and more importantly a safe place to exit bearing in mind the rise and fall of the tide.

If it's too rough we simply don't train - there's no point putting people at risk.

A full drysuit and buoyancy aid is worn along with a helmet and gloves - the same basic kit that would normally be used for Coasteering.

We ensure that there are spotters (known as surface cover) to watch over us, with throw lines, again basic Coasteering techniques.

Volunteer Week - Message from the Chief Coastguard

Coastguard Strike Action

You may have read that Coastguards  around the country have been going on strike over the closure of Coastguard Rescue Centres.

The strike action by full time Coastguards has been going on for sometime and relates to the Operations Rooms not the Volunteer stations like ours here in Swanage.

Whilst many people think some of us are full time Coastguards almost everything we now do for the Service is voluntary.

We are volunteers honest !

This week I was approached to supply some more history on the Coastguard and the role we carry out in the community.

I asked how urgent it was as there is a lot going on behind the scenes (not call outs!) - the end of April was the reply. Oh that may be tricky due to work as there is a large sailing event not too far away from here in July.

So you don't work full time for the Coastguard? - No like everyone at Swanage I'm a volunteer - I work full time for another service (uniforms similar different epaulets).

All Coastguard Rescue Officers are volunteers - we have full time jobs but when required, we respond to emergencies. There are full time Coastguard Officers but the rescues like Cliffs, Mud and Water are carried out by about 3000 volunteers all around the country.