Keeping our Beaches Safe this Summer
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the RNLI lifeguard service, which officially launched in 2001. What began as a trial on just 26 beaches in south-west England has since grown into a nationwide operation across the UK and Channel Islands, with RNLI lifeguards helping to save more than 2,000 lives.
For volunteer Coxswain Mark Tewkesbury and his daughter, Grace, the RNLI has always been part of family life. Next January, Mark will celebrate 20 years as an RNLI volunteer, dedicating two decades to helping protect the local community at sea. Now, his daughter Grace is following in his footsteps in her own way, as an RNLI lifeguard during a landmark year for the service.
Grace, 17, grew up around Hastings lifeboat station. Some of her earliest memories are of evenings spent at the lifeboat house drinking hot chocolate while waiting for her dad to return safely from service calls at sea.
“The pager going off was just part of life,” says Grace. “I remember family gatherings, birthdays and barbecues suddenly changing because Dad had to run to the station. Coming home from school and finding out he’d already gone out on the lifeboat was completely normal for us.”
Grace knew from a young age that she wanted to help others too. A keen swimmer growing up, she joined the RNLI lifeguard service as soon as she turned 16. After completing fitness assessments, interviews and advanced first aid training, Grace qualified last summer and served throughout the busy peak season on local beaches.
Now studying PE, psychology and geography at A-level, Grace also teaches swimming and is passionate about RNLI water safety education, particularly the charity’s ‘Float to Live’ campaign – an initiative where children are shown how to lie on their backs and ‘float like a starfish’ if they ever find themselves in difficulty in the water.
The family’s connection to the RNLI was tested during Storm Ciara in February 2020, when Hastings RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat launched into severe conditions and suffered a knockdown just off the Hastings harbour arm.
Grace was 10 at the time, and her little sister Flo was eight. “I remember being frightened because Dad was out there’ Grace recalls. “We were at home waiting to hear he was safe. At the time, I don’t think any of us realised how severe the conditions really were until we later saw the footage.”
Mark remembers the night differently: “When you’re dealing with a situation like that, your focus is completely on the crew and the lifeboat. We just wanted to get everyone safely ashore at Eastbourne. The relief came once we knew everyone was safe and I could finally contact my family.”
Despite the challenges of volunteer lifesaving and a high-level career, Mark continues to serve as Coxswain and recently passed his latest RNLI operational competency framework assessments. RNLI crew regularly revalidate their training and operational skills in all roles, to ensure they remain ready to respond.
While Mark heads to sea aboard the lifeboat and Grace patrols the coastline as a lifeguard, both share the same purpose, helping keep people safe in and around the water.
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