The Largs RNLI fundraising branch held its annual lunch at the Willowbank Hotel last month, and heard about the relatively unknown work of the RNLI overseas.

Guest Speaker, John Powell, International Project Manager, was accompanied by the International Fundraising Manager, Alison Gordon.

Largs branch chairman Cathy Holgate said: “Living as we do in a town with its own lifeboat, crew and station, many of us know the organisation and read about its rescues in the local and national media. I have been extensively involved with the RNLI for over 20 years but it wasn’t until I went to their annual meeting in the summer that I had any idea of the challenging work the international team does in resource-poor communities."

As well as working to halve the number of drownings in the UK, the RNLI through its International Team is working with other organisations around the world to introduce, develop and monitor a drowning prevention programme, and uses its knowledge and skills to make a real difference through teaching lifesaving techniques such as lifeguarding and swimming. John gave some amazing and heart-rending statistics that showed that daily exposure to water hazards coupled with the inability to swim can prove fatal. He told the audience that 372,000 lives were lost every year through drowning and that a third of these are young children. In many parts of Asia, drowning is the main cause of child deaths over one year in age and in Bangladesh 46 children die each day.

Cathy concluded : “It is important to know that the work in places like Bangladesh and Tanzania is not taking funds from sea safety in the UK. It is funded through monies donated specifically for international projects and we learnt that it goes a long way and makes a big difference. It was very interesting and a good day was enjoyed by all. And of course, it was successful financially as we raised over £1200—for UK funds.”