Don’t blame RNLI for shortage of lifeguards – Yorkshire Post Letters

MANY people – mostly those currently crowding the beaches – are complaining about the lack of lifeguards.

The vast majority of the missing lifeguards are volunteers with the RNLI, which is having to complete their training somewhat belatedly.

The RNLI is a charity and not a Government department. It should be praised for what it does do, not castigated for what, this year, it has not yet been able to do.

From: Thomas Reed, Harrogate.

ARE the Government – or local councils for that matter – happy with so many people flocking to the seaside, or popular riverside locations, without the presence of lifeguards? I wouldn’t be.

Yet, while it should be up to families to take personal responsibility, I’m unconvinced that all parents do, in fact, keep an eye on their children and discourage them from entering potentially dangerous waters in the first place.

Like hospices, the RNLI should receive more formal funding.

From: Andrew Mercer, Guiseley.

IS it time for all visitors to the coast to make a donation to the RNLI?

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James Mitchinson

Editor