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Save Our Coastguard: What is happening?
- Coastguard Rescue Officers save lives, protect our coast and support public safety.
- They respond to emergencies on cliffs, beaches, mudflats, coastal paths and in water-related incidents.
- They are trained emergency responders, not casual volunteers.
- The Government plans to remove the modest payments they currently receive for call-outs, training and operational duties.
- These payments are not large, but they help people afford to serve.
- If the payments are removed, trained Coastguard Rescue Officers could be driven out.
- That could weaken local Coastguard teams and put coastal communities at risk.
- Our ask is simple: Pay our hero Coastguard Rescue Officers and protect our coastline.
What do Coastguard Rescue Officers do?
Coastguard Rescue Officers are often called when people are in danger on or near the coast.
They help with:
- cliff rescues
- mud rescues
- water-related emergencies
- missing person searches
- flooding
- casualty care
- helicopter landing sites
- incidents on beaches, shorelines and coastal paths
- support for other emergency services
They can be called out at any time of day or night.
Are they volunteers?
Yes, but not in the ordinary sense.
Coastguard Rescue Officers are trained emergency responders. They are on call, they attend serious incidents, and they have to keep their skills up to date.
They may leave work, family events, evenings, weekends or other commitments when they are paged.
They do not do it for the money.
But the modest payments help make it possible.
What is changing?
Following a court case involving former Coastguard Rescue Officer Martin Groom, the Government is changing the way Coastguard Rescue Officers are treated.
Instead of finding a practical way to keep the current modest payments, the planned change would remove hourly payments for call-outs, training and operational duties from September 2026.
That means Coastguard Rescue Officers would be expected to carry on responding, but without the payments that currently help cover the real costs of serving.
Why does the payment matter?
The current payments are not much.
But they help cover the cost of:
- leaving paid work to attend a call-out
- losing self-employed income
- relying on employer goodwill
- attending training
- travel and disruption
- time away from family
For some people, that payment is the difference between being able to serve and not being able to serve.
What is the risk?
If the Government removes the payments, some Coastguard Rescue Officers may not be able to continue.
That could mean:
- fewer people available for call-outs
- experienced officers leaving
- weaker local teams
- longer waits for help from neighbouring areas
- more pressure on those who remain
- greater risk to the public
- greater risk to Coastguard Rescue Officers themselves
Once experienced people leave, their training, judgement and local knowledge cannot be replaced quickly.
Why should this matter to me?
Because when someone is in danger on or near the coast, we all expect help to come.
That help depends on trained local people being ready to respond.
Coastguard Rescue Officers are there for families, walkers, children, swimmers, fishermen, people in distress, people caught by tides, people stuck in mud, and people at risk on cliffs or shorelines.
They protect residents and visitors alike.
They should not be taken for granted.
What are we asking the Government to do?
We are asking the Government to:
- pause the planned September 2026 changes
- keep modest payments for call-outs, training and operational duties
- work with MPs and Coastguard Rescue Officers on a practical solution
- protect local Coastguard teams
- protect coastal communities
The campaign ask
Pay our hero Coastguard Rescue Officers and protect our coastline.
Support the campaign to Save Our Coastguard.
Sign the petition and help protect the people who protect our coast.
