For over 200 years, HM Coastguard has been working tirelessly to keep people safe both at sea and on shore.
Abseiling exercises are part of the extensive training for Coastguard volunteers. Photo: Echo Media Group.
The Bridlington Echo goes behind the scenes to find out more about our own Coastguard Rescue Team.
Hanging over the edge of a 400 ft cliff may not be some people’s idea of fun….but for a group of dedicated Bridlington volunteers it’s all part of the training and rescue programmesdesigned by HM Coastguard.
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Now the Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team is set to open arecruitment window to help bolster their numbers that help to rescueand keep people out of danger around the areas shores and cliff paths.
The organisation also works closely with the RNLI crews and help and assist the Coastguard helicopters with preparing and manning landing areas and where necessary evacuating casualties.
Cliff rescues, missing person searches, people cut off by incoming tides and reports of objects in the water are amongst the regular callouts.Photo: Echo Media Group.
Their team cover a coastline sector of approximately 25 miles, from Speeton in the north of the area to Atwick in the south.
Cliff rescues, missing person searches, people cut off by incoming tides and reports of objects in the water are amongst the regular callouts.
Training is ongoing and varied and assisting the Search and Rescue helicopter is part of the Coastguards duties. Photo: Echo Media Group.
Sadly, the team also have to recover bodies from the sea or shorelineand there is a robust training programme to help volunteers with this part of the job.
Training is ongoing and varied and is under the watchful eye of Station Officer for the Bridlington Coastguard Team, Jordan Grebby.
Jordan Grebby, right and Adam Mainprize on a training exercise. Photo: Echo Media Group.
Jordan said “Volunteering with His Majesty’s Coastguard as aCoastguard Rescue Officer is a an extremely rewarding role, workingalongside our fellow emergency services to help those in need at thecoast.
“The team is made up of all types of people who give up theirtime to respond to emergencies, all volunteers are trained and givenall the appropriate equipment to carry out their role.
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“I can honestly say I’ve never met a better bunch of ordinary people who come together to do extraordinary things when it matters.
“This year has been a testing onefor the team, being involved in the highest incident numbers per year to date, these include searches, injured persons, persons in the water and persons down the cliff. If wehave sparked your interest even just a little bit, get in touch you will not regret it.”
Bempton Cliffs are used for exercises. Photo: Echo Media Group.
This year (2024), the Bridlington teamhave surpassed their previous records for callouts.
On 25th November a call-out to rescue a dog that had gone over the cliff near to Sewerby Steps took the total to 224, with over month to go before the end of the year.
Thankfully the dog was rescued uninjured.
CASE STUDY – JOHN BOWLES
I’ve always been active, through sport, and other interests, in contrast to mysedentary finance based day job.
John Bowles. Photo: Echo Media Group.
Working from home has its benefits, but I missed being part of an actual team rather than a virtual team.
Coupled with the desire to be part of a team, I’ve always enjoyed helping people, I have an active mind that craves mental and physical stimulation, I love to learn, and wanted to add to my first aid skills.
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The Bridlington Coastguard team are from various backgrounds and ages, it’s a great mix, with availability (day, evening, night, weekends) to suit everyone.
You’ll receive extensive training before joining and ongoing training (for water and cliff rescue, casualty care and missing person searches), and we support each other along with suitable banter to make it good fun too.
Safety checks are paramount. Photo: Echo Media Group.
If you catch the Coastguard bug, it can become very addictive.
CASE STUDY – CLIVE STEPHENSON
I’ve been with the Bridlington team forabout 8 years. The thing I enjoy most about it is the comradeship within the team.
Training is enjoyable even during the times when its freezing cold or hissing down with rain, but the enthusiasm of the team always shines through, sometimes aided with a hot cup of tea at the end.
Many incidents spring to mind during my time with Bridlington Coastguard team. I think one of the most memorable and probably the most muddiest incident was at Ulrome where both the Bridlington and Hornsea team were tasked to locate a missing male who had taken his 3 dogs for a walk and was 3 hours overdue infreezing wind and rain.
On arrival at the caravan site several teams made up of 3 or 4 team members were tasked to search various areas.
The team I was in had only been searching for about 5 – 10 mins when we got a call to say that a police team had located the male in what was an old well.
We were the first team to arriveat the location.The Officer In Charge got us to set up a Quadpodover the well to extract the casualty. Although it wasn’tvery deep the space was extremely restricted in the hole.To cut a long story short, a dog absolutely covered inmud was extracted to give us more room to extract thecasualty. A helicopter arrived during this operation anda few members were dispatched to create a landing site.The casualty, who suffering from effects of the cold, wassuccessfully extracted and transferred by stretcher to theawaiting helicopter and then to Hospital.The ”Cliff Technician” who went into the well wasabsolutely covered in mud and the equipment in nobetter state. It took us about 3 – 4 hours to get theequipment to a reasonable state for use. We went backto base the following evening to finish off cleaning thekit it was so bad!!Will I be sorry to leave? Yes! But it’s time to spendmore time with my family and make way for someoneelse who may be interested in joining! Give it a go,you won’t be disappointed!Clive is pictured receiving his valedictorycertificate from Maritime and Coastguard AgencyChief Executive Virginia McVea congratulating himon 26 years of service to HM Coastguard.Case Study: Clive StephensonCase Study: John Bowles
Interested in joining the Bridlington HM Coastguard team?The next window for Volunteer Coastguard applications opens in early January 2025.Look for posts on Facebook or visit the coastguard website: https://hmcoastguard.uk/
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