- 26/12/05 - Best ever turnout for Boxing Day Swim
- 17/12/05 - National Award for Save a Baby's Life Programme
- 07/12/05 - NSVL Lifeguards in action - jetski search off Whitley Bay
- 02/12/05 - College students brave North Sea for charity
- 25/11/05 - Award for star pupil
- 14/11/05 - Swimmer raises money for local child
- 25/10/05 - Wilderness Medics visit wild coast
- 18/10/05 - Community outreach award for NSVL member
- 07/09/05 - Disabled swimmer raises money for NSVL
- 21/08/05 - NSVL at the Tall Ships
- 05/07/05 - Heartstart gets started
- 11/06/05 - Teachers get new qualifications
- 10/04/05 - New pool lifeguards for NSVL
- 15/02/05 - Kiss4Life Fun
- 02/01/05 - NSVL Online Relaunched
Best ever turnout for Boxing Day Swim
26/12/05 - 2005 saw the biggest ever turnout for the annual bout of lunacy that is the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards' Boxing Day Swim at Whitley Bay.
With the water a chilly 7°C, 54 hardy souls aged 5 to 55 jumped in the sea supported by more than a hundred people on the beach.
The turnout was so good that there weren't enough commemorative t-shirts to go round, but that didn't spoil the fun.
Although for some it was a quick splash, the veterans and some of the newcomers lasted a full 15 minutes bodysurfing in the waves. Time was only called as club chairman Joe Welsh had to hand out the Certificates of Insanity to the swimmers.
The participants have raised thousands of pounds for the club and other local charities and it is hoped that next year's event will be even bigger.
Any participants who missed out on getting a t-shirt or Certificate of Insanity can contact us on nsvl@beachlifeguards.co.uk.
A full photo album of the day is available here.
National award for Save a Baby's Life programme
17/12/05 - Newcastle University medical student and NSVL Trainer Tom Poulton has beaten over 1,000 other entries to win a national award for his work setting up a programme to teach new parents essential skills to save their baby's life.
The award was presented at the Student Volunteering Awards held at the Baltic Gateshead, organised by the HEACF (the Higher Education Active Community Fund). Tom was entered for his work developing a pilot scheme where 28 medical students and members of the Newcastle University Lifesaving Club were trained how to deliver the 2-hour community Save a Baby's Life sessions.
The training seminar at the university was run by NSVL's Malcolm Dunn who is the Save a Baby's Life Coordinator for the area, and who himself won an award for his work on the programme earlier this year.
Save a Baby's Life is a 2-hour workshop session delivered to groups of parents to teach them what to do if their baby stops breathing or starts choking.
The students are available to deliver 
Save a Baby's Life sessions across the city, and so far they have taught over 150 parents. The scheme has become so popular that another 20 students are already lined up to become trainers in the new year.
Tom is currently working with student organisation MedSIN to develop the pilot scheme for a national roll-out to allow medical students from around the country to set up similar projects. Lifesavers, which administers Save a Baby's Life nationally, has also given Tom a £5,000 development grant to assist with this expansion of the scheme.
If you would like to find out more about Save a Baby's Life sessions please see the Save a Baby's Life page. For more information on Newcastle University Lifesaving Club visit their web site at: www.societies.ncl.ac.uk/lifesaving.
More detailed information about this story can be found in the Members Section.
Jetski search off Whitley Bay
07/12/05 - During a recent Sunday afternoon training session, NSVL lifeguards who were in the headquarters training were alerted to an incident on the beach by a member of the public.
A jetski had been washed up on the beach in heavy seas without its rider. The lifeguards immediately radioed Humber Coastguard to alert them of the situation while making their way onto the beach to assess the situation.
Another jetski rider landed on the beach after realising his friend's jet ski had been washed up on shore, but did not know where his friend was.
Humber Coastguard paged Cullercoats Lifeboat and Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade, while lifeguards scanned the shoreline and water for any signs of the missing man.
Moments later, the jet ski rider on the beach received a call on his waterproof mobile from his friend who had been picked up by another jet ski and taken back in to the calmer waters in Cullercoats Bay.
NSVL Lifeguards relayed this information to Humber Coastguard and the Lifeboat was stood down. TVLB proceeded to Cullercoats the check the jet ski rider over and then came along to Whitley Bay with their Land Rover to assist in the recovery of the jet ski.
This incident shows the importance of communications - whether waterproof mobile phone or, better, VHF radio - in the event of incidents such as this.
So remember, if there is an incident on the beach or coastline then phone 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.
College students brave North Sea for charity
02/12/05 - Most school pupils would jump at the chance to spend a day at the beach instead of the classroom, but they might think twice if they were expected to jump in the sea on a windy, wet winter's day - but that's exactly what a group of students from Churchill Community College in Wallsend did to raise money for charity.
Students Stephen Whitehead, Danielle Inskip, Leanne Ivery and Seana Dawson (all in Year 10 and 11) organised the sponsored sea dash to raise money for Leukaemia Research as part of a number of fundraising events for different charities.
The dash took place at Whitley Bay beach, supervised by lifeguards from NSVL. However, although they were away from school that didn't mean the students got away from their teachers completely - their learning mentors had to get wet too!
With video and photographic proof of their efforts the group hopes to bring in over £200 for Leukaemia Research. Amazingly, the experience doesn't seem to have put them off - Stephen and Learning Mentor Jane Bedford have agreed to come and do it all again for NSVL's official Boxing Day Swim later this month.
If anyone is interested in taking part in the Boxing Day Swim with NSVL at Whitley Bay details can be found here.
Award for star pupil
25/11/05 - Congratulations are in order for one of NSVL's most active younger members, Miriam Austin, who has been presented with a Civic Cup award for her remarkable attitude towards helping others.
Miriam, who studies at Whitley Bay High School, was one of four students from the area to receive the cups from Whitley Bay Rotary Club after being nominated by her school for her extensive work on the school and year council, along with her exemplary attitude.
Miriam has been a member of NSVL for a number of years, progressing through the RLSS lifesaving awards programme before becoming an Assistant Teacher earlier this year. Since then she has given up her time every Sunday evening to help run the NSVL Rookie Lifesaving classes, allowing her to pass on her skills to the next generation of lifesavers.
The award was presented for Miriam's outstanding contributions in all areas of her life, but NSVL is particularly appreciative of the effort and enthusiasm she and the rest of the Assistant Teachers put into the club. Well done Mim!
Swimmer raises money for local child
14/11/05 - Swimming constantly for an hour and a half would be tiring for the best of us, but how about trying it in the North Sea in mid November wearing only a swimming costume? That's what one local woman did to raise money for five-year-old Connor Mooney.
Kathleen Williamson from Newcastle read about Connor in the Evening Chronicle after he was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer affecting only five in every million children under the age of 10 in the UK, and decided to raise money for him.
Kathleen is no stranger to the North Sea having completed a New Year's Day Swim at Cullercoats in aid of St Oswald's Hospice, but this time she decided to make things a bit more challenging. Original plans to swim across the Tyne river mouth were deemed too dangerous, but she 
eventually decided to swim from St Mary's Island and along Whitley Bay beach.
Supported for the duration of her feat by James Parkinson, Geoff Wade and Tom Bowie (all NSVL lifeguards), Kathleen swam for more than an hour and a half before safety considerations forced her to stop swimming.
Nonetheless, it was an amazing performance from Kathleen, who has suffered from severe spinal problems for 20 years and has hopefully raised hundreds of pounds for Connor.
Wilderness Medics visit wild coast
25/10/05 - A group of eighty medical students from universities across the UK braved the wind, rain and sea at the weekend to join local search and rescue organisations for a crash course in coastal rescue and first aid techniques.
The students were visiting Newcastle for the annual Wilderness Medical Society Conference, and after a day of lectures from guest speakers on Saturday the 300 delegates were split between the coastal search and rescue, mountain rescue and disaster management.
The coastal search and rescue practical, which was organised by North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards with assistance from Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade and Cullercoats Lifeboat, was designed to give the students an insight into the types of incident encountered by coastal rescue teams.
In the morning session the delegates made their way round 10 'stations' staffed by trainers from NSVL and TVLB to give them a brief insight into various different first aid and rescue techniques used by coastal rescue teams. In the afternoon the delegates were split into three groups along the North Tyneside coastline to put the morning's training into practice.
Simulated incidents varying from broken legs on the Tyne Pier with helicopter evacuation, cliff rescue at Tynemouth Longsands, and a kite surfing incident and drowning at Whitley Bay. The medical students took the lead role in all scenarios supervised by trainers from NSVL and TVLB.
The Newcastle University Wilderness Medical Society contacted the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards last year while developing their bid to hold the 2005 Conference. The bid subsequently won and the weekend's activities were the culmination of months of hard work.
Joe Welsh, event coordinator and chairman of the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards, said, "The students seemed to appreciate the opportunity to get out of the classroom and see what it's like dealing with serious injuries and conditions out in the elements where you haven't got all the facilities of a hospital. They also got to see the equipment used by lifeguards, lifeboats and coastguards in action along with a demonstration from Boulmer's RAF rescue helicopter.
"Some of the students were even brave enough to have a dip in the North Sea - and some nearly had to put their newfound skills into practice and treat themselves for hypothermia!"
Each of the voluntary rescue organisations involved will receive a donation from the Wilderness Medical Society.
Community Outreach Award for NSVL member
18/10/2005 - A founding member of the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards has received a special award from the Royal Life Saving Society UK in recognition of his extensive work in the community.
Malcolm Dunn from Cullercoats received the Brian Morrissey Outreach Cup for 2004 at the annual RLSS awards ceremony in London's Guildhall.
Sadly, Brian Morrissey died in May this year after a long illness, but the award was presented to Malcolm by Brian's widow.
Since retiring from teaching, Malcolm has worked tirelessly on behalf of NSVL and the Northumberland and Durham Branch of RLSS UK being involved in a number of community projects.
His main work has been on the Save a Baby's Life programme, a 2-hour workshop session designed for new parents to teach them essential skills that could save their baby's life in an emergency. Malcolm regularly gives up his mornings and takes his car with a boot full of twenty baby manikins around various mother and baby clinics in the area, and this national honour recognises his outstanding commitment to lifesaving, not only in the last year but over more than thirty years of service with RLSS UK.
If you would like to find out more about community outreach programmes please visit the Community Outreach page.
Disabled Swimmer Raises Money for NSVL
02/09/05 - A disabled man has raised over £500 for the North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards and Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade by completing a charity sea swim.
John Ellis from Gateshead raised the money after swimming from St Mary's Island to Cullercoats Bay (a distance of around 2 miles) in a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. His feat is even more impressive given that he has a false leg!
John, who swims in the sea at Cullercoats all year round and is well known to the lifeguards who house his special 'sea leg' in the beach base during the summer months, was accompanied on his swim by NSVL Lifeguards Donna Robson, Tom Bowie and Dan Kennedy who provided rescue boat safety cover.
It is not the first time John has raised money for NSVL - he performed a similar swim in 2000. The money raised will be used for club development and buying essential training equipment.
NSVL at the Tall Ships 2005
21/08/05 - Members of NSVL worked alongside the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade to provide additional safety and first aid and AED First Responder cover when the Tall Ships' Race visited the Tyne.
Over 1 million people lined the banks of the Tyne and the coastline to say goodbye to all the visiting ships during the Parade of Sail on Thursday 28th July, but all went well and the NSVL/TVLB teams were not called into action!
Heartstart gets started
05/07/05 - Residents in North Tyneside can now get free training to learn how to save lives.
The North Sea Volunteer Lifeguards is the first in the area to become affiliated to Heartstart UK, an initiative co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation to teach members of the public what to do in a life-threatening emergency.
The two-hour course includes learning how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with choking, serious bleeding and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.
The benefit of knowing what to do in such situations really can save lives. As Heartstart NSVL Co-ordinator John Milburn explains, "The most important factor determining survival after a cardiac arrest is the time from collapse to the casualty receiving an electric shock from a defibrillator, but a bystander performing CPR buys time and can more than double the chances of survival."
"The Heartstart course provides very practical 'hands-on' learning and is suitable for anyone over the age of 10. Our trainers have lots of experience training lifeguards, but anyone can learn how to save a life and this course is based around a video which teaches those essential skills in a way that is accessible to everyone."
A number of local groups as diverse as the Anomalous Phenomena Investigations Team and St Wilfred's Youth Club in Blyth have already taken advantage of the free training on offer and now Heartstart NSVL is looking for other groups in the area who would like to receive training. The courses are free and can be run from NSVL's training headquarters in Whitley Bay or at a group's own venue.
If you would like to find out more information about organising a Heartstart course you can visit the Heartstart NSVL page on this site.
Teachers get new qualifications
11/06/05 - A number of NSVL's Rookie teachers have completed a course in basic rescue skills and lifesaving techniques so that they know what to do in the event of an emergency while teaching the Rookies.
Steve Mather, Diane Charlton, Richard Fahey and James Parkinson all successfully passed the National Rescue Award for Swimming Teachers and Coaches (NRASTC) meaning that the majority of poolside staff at NSVL have recognised current lifesaving qualifications should the worst happen.
While all four have many years of lifesaving and lifeguarding experience between them, due to work commitments they no longer have time to complete the extensive ongoing training required to hold the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification (NPLQ), and the NRASTC is the recommended lifesaving qualification for teachers.
The move is part of NSVL's drive to ensure that all poolside teachers have current lifesaving qualifications (either NPLQ or NRASTC) while also having at least one specific lifeguard on duty during pool sessions.
** NSVL can offer training for the NRASTC and other qualifications to other organisations and groups who are involved with pool and open water activities. Please contact us at nsvl@beachlifeguards.co.uk for more information **
New Pool Lifeguards for NSVL
10/04/05 - A group of new recruits have successully completed training and assessment to become fully-qualified Pool Lifeguards.
They have been attending training every weekend for the past month to gain the Royal Life Saving Society's National Pool Lifeguard Qualification, which is the benchmark qualification required to work as a lifeguard in a swimming pool.
They will now be able to apply for jobs as lifeguard at swimming pools in the area and also to provide lifeguard cover during NSVL's Rookie session on a Sunday evening.
For four of the lifeguards it's merely a sideways step, as they are already qualified beach lifeguards, and two of them have been working on the beaches of North Tyneside over the previous two summers. This new qualification will mean they can keep lifeguarding right throughout the year, whatever the temperature outside!
Kiss4Life Fun
15/02/05 - Members of NSVL got in a romantic mood for Valentine's Day by taking part in a number of activities to raise money for the annual Lifesaver's Kiss4Life fundraising campaign.
The Kiss4Life appeal gives people the chance to save lives by learning what to do in an emergency, by raising money for Lifesavers and by having fun.
A special games night was organised for the Rookie section of the club, and over 40 junior members of the club competed in teams playing a variety of fun swimming and lifesaving-related games.
Those who were a little more grown up - in age terms at least - attended a special Kiss4Life party held by the club chairman.
All proceeds from party tickets, pool entry and the raffle are being donated to the Kiss4Life appeal. For more information about the Kiss4Life appeal, or to donate money, please visit the Kiss4Life web site.
NSVL Online Relaunched
02/01/05 - Regular visitors to the site may notice it has been given a bit of a revamp for the New Year, and with the revamp has come a boost in visitor numbers reaching us through search engines. So whether, you're a regular visitor or you're here for the first time, we hope you like the look of the site.
All the usual sections of the site are still here, but have been spruced up to fit in with NSVL's new status as a Company Limited by Guarantee (company number 5162996).
With our Rookie club going from strength to strength, it was about time that they got their own section of the site and to launch the new Rookie Zone we're having a competition to draw a picture of why it's great to be a Rookie. Entries will be displayed on the site for children across the world to see.
We have also added a Weekly Training section, where details of all training sessions will be posted so you know when training sessions are on, along with much more information on the awards and qualifications that are available.
As part of our commitment to accessibility, the relaunched site is now fully-compliant with Level AAA of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the highest level of accessibility achievable. Full details of what this means and details on how to use the site (customise text size etc) are available on our help page.
Keep checking NSVL Online in the coming months for a host of new training resources, including Powerpoint Presentations, training photos and video clips.
NB - The photo used on the left hand side of the site design is of Phil Witty with a lifeguard rescue ski at Whitley Bay. He does have an excuse for wearing gloves, as it was the middle of winter when the photo was taken! The perfect blue sky colour meant it was an obvious choice when looking for images to use, however we are always taking photos, so look out for new designs in the coming months.back to the top