How you can help save lives on the Northumberland coastline

HM Coastguard are now recruiting volunteer Coastguard rescue officers to join its teams in Northumberland.
HM Coastguard at Holy Island causeway.HM Coastguard at Holy Island causeway.
HM Coastguard at Holy Island causeway.

Opportunities are open to volunteer with its teams at Berwick, Holy Island, Seahouses, Howick, Amble, Newbiggin and Blyth.

Coastguard rescue teams are made up of specially-trained and equipped volunteers, who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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HM Coastguard teams respond to a wide-range of emergency incidents, including persons in the water, technical rope and mud rescues, search and rescue helicopter operations and vulnerable missing person searches.

In a Facebook post, HM Coastguard Northumberland explained: ‘As a Coastguard rescue officer you may be called out at any time of the day or night, and in all weather conditions. Our teams may also have to work in hazardous situations and carry out physically demanding tasks.

‘So, if this sounds like something you are interested in then we would like to hear from you. We provide full training and equipment and no previous emergency service or maritime experience is required to become a volunteer with HM Coastguard.

‘We do, however, need all of our volunteers to be aged 18 years or over, possess a full UK drivers’ license and live within 25 minutes driving time of your local station.

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‘Being a coastguard requires a certain level of fitness and all volunteers will be required to partake in a health and fitness test prior to joining a team. Volunteers will also have to meet eyesight and hearing requirements before becoming operationally deployable.

‘Joining a Coastguard rescue team is a big commitment and regular attendance at training sessions and emergency incidents is necessary.

‘We are particularly looking for those people who have some daytime availability during the course of a standard Monday to Friday working week.’

If you meet the above criteria and are interested in applying, please send a note of interest via email and include your name, age, current address, contact number, current employment status and a bit of information about yourself to: [email protected].

If you wish to apply for a volunteer role you must be available to attend the following training courses at Amble: May 11-15, May 30-31, June 13-14.

The application window closes on February 28.