Ford is the official vehicle supplier to the RNLI, the charity which saves lives at sea. Most visible is the Ford Ranger which helps lifeguards patrol beaches up and down the UK. We’re proud to support the lifesaving charity to help keep our beaches safe.
As well as supplying vehicles, Ford are helping the RNLI keep people safe this summer by amplifying their beach safety messages.
Ford and the RNLI have launched a new initiative to help educate people on and raise awareness of key beach safety advice, called Tide Tracks.
“Tide Tracks” uses custom tyres to imprint and create key water safety messages across stretches of sand. We have captured this all on camera and produced a series of films to help the RNLI drive wider awareness about water safety guidance. Watch the film below to find out more.
Now more than ever, it is important to understand beach safety when visiting for a day trip or part of a holiday.
Our partners at the RNLI have the following safety advice for those of you heading to the beach.
Leave your inflatables at home - Blow-up toys and airbeds are designed for swimming pools, not the open sea. The RNLI urges against the use of inflatables because they can easily be swept out.
Float to live - If you or your children fall into the sea unexpectedly, or you find yourself struggling in the water, remember the RNLI’s float to live advice. It could save your life.
Call for help - If you’re in an emergency situation or spot someone else in trouble, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.
Visit an RNLI lifeguarded beach if you can. You’ll find trained professionals to help keep you safe. And they’ll be on hand if something goes wrong, in or out of the water.
To find a lifeguarded beach near you, use the RNLI’s Find my nearest lifeguarded beach tool. You can search by town, city or postcode, or you can click on the map to find your closest one. You’ll also get dates and times of the lifeguard patrols to help you plan your visit.
To support the lifesaving work of the RNLI and find out more click here.
The sheer volume of people is making social distancing difficult whilst at the beach, so please bear the following in mind:
You might choose to visit the beach at a quieter time of day, or choose a beach with more space, you should still swim between the red and yellow flags.
If you arrive at the beach and it is simply too crowded, consider moving on and spending your day elsewhere.
Checking the tide times is advised – as the tide comes in, it reduces the available space for people to spread out and leads to beaches getting more crowded.
RNLI lifeguards are using the Ranger’s 4WD capabilities to transit the country’s beaches while keeping the public safe. Helping to carry a wide range of rescue equipment, as well as deploying and recovering jet skis, its space and pulling power is put to good use.
The Ford Transit comes into its own as an operations base on location in major maritime search and rescue incidents. Whilst the Transit Custom is a reliable work horse used to undertake vital maintenance work on lifeboats and other essential equipment.
Transit Connect, Fiesta, Focus, Kuga & EcoSport are all being used by the ‘on the ground’ members of the fundraising team and the RNLI’s ‘team of educators’ to take key water safety messages to schools & events around the UK.
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