A BEACH lifeguard from Falmouth has been sharing his lifesaving skills with volunteers in The Gambia, training local lifeguards to help keep their communities safe in the water.

Senior RNLI lifeguard Matt Stone can usually be found patrolling the beaches of Perranporth and The Lizard, but last month travelled to Africa as part of a team from the charity who shared skills with The Gambia’s Red Dolphin Lifeguard Association.

Matt, who is also chairman of Gyllyngvase Surf Life Saving Club, said: “Having worked as a beach lifeguard for over 10 years, I have acquired a great deal of knowledge and skills that I am excited to pass on to others who are also saving lives at sea.

"The RNLI’s international work is an excellent way for our team to share their experience, and empower lifeguards from developing countries to patrol their beaches with confidence. The appreciation and enthusiasm shown from the volunteer lifeguards in The Gambia was fantastic.

The RNLI team delivered a package of training, as well as helping facilitate a new partnership between Brighton Surf Life Saving Club (SLSC) and the Red Dolphin lifeguards to share skills in the future.

Over five days, Matthew, along with RNLI Lifeguard Leigh Anderson from Polzeath and the RNLI team helped train 24 local volunteer lifeguards, 25 volunteer community first aiders and seven volunteers in lifesaving leadership skills.

They also spent a day patrolling a busy beach alongside the newly qualified local lifeguards to help hone their zoning and patrol patterns.

Matt added: "I have delivered many beach lifeguard courses in Cornwall and could tell participants were eager to learn. I have brought back some important lessons from our work in The Gambia.

"Not only was I surprised by the dangerous conditions, but the limited resources that the lifeguards have to carry out their duties, which makes their job very challenging."

Drowning claims an estimated 360,000 lives every year, many of them children in low and middle income countries.

Since 2012, the RNLI has been working internationally with global leaders, public health organisations and at-risk communities to reduce the loss of life and help make drowning prevention a worldwide priority. The charity’s international work focuses on raising awareness of the risks of drowning, conducting research in to its causes and testing interventions to prevent it.

With the causes of drowning varying widely, there is no single solution so the RNLI works with local partners in a range of countries to find solutions that fit the skills and materials available in low-resource communities, both to protect people from the risk of drowning and rescue them safely from the water.

Stuart Thompson, who leads the RNLI’s international programme of lifeguard training, said: “Drowning is a huge problem in many countries and communities across the world and there are often little or no water safety measures in place to protect people from the risks.

"The coastline in Gambia is well used by both tourists and local visitors, with huge numbers of people heading to the beach almost every evening and weekend throughout the year."