The Coastguard Association

HM Coastguard is the national category 1 emergency service responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. It is also responsible for all land-based search and rescue helicopter operations across the UK.

Every minute of every hour of every day, over 300 Coastguard Rescue Teams remain on call across the UK to respond to those in need at sea, along the coast and further afield. These teams are made up of specially trained Coastguard Rescue Officers who volunteer to join HM Coastguard, leaving their families, friends, full-time occupations and putting plans on hold when the pager sounds. Coastguard Rescue Teams are specially trained and equipped in a wide range of search and rescue disciplines including water and flood rescue, lost and missing person search, technical rope rescue, mud rescue, critical casualty care, 4×4 off road driving and much more.

The Coastguard Rescue Teams are tasked and coordinated by the highly trained full-time staff within the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres across the UK who answer 999 calls, respond to mayday radio transmissions and bring these emergency incidents to a safe conclusion using the resources available to them including Coastguard Rescue Teams, full-time senior coastal officers, lifeboats (RNLI and independent) and search and rescue aircraft.

And while these dedicated people are helping save lives across the country, The Coastguard Association is the charity dedicated to help them in their time of need.

Remembrance Day Pin Badges

We are proud to introduce our brand-new Coastguard Association Pin Badges, created to help us remember and honour those who have served and sacrificed for our country and show our support for today’s Armed Forces community.

Each badge features the Coastguard Association emblem alongside the iconic poppy – a fitting symbol of remembrance, respect and service.

And there’s more…

For every badge sold, a donation will be made to the Royal British Legion to support their vital work helping serving and ex-serving members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families.

Whether you are a current or former Coastguard or a supporter of the Coastguard Association, we hope you will join us in supporting this worthwhile cause.

Wear it with pride. Remember with respect. Support those who served.

Pin Badges are £10 each which includes postage and can be ordered online at: https://coastguardassociation.sumupstore.com/

Emergency Services Show Success

Massive thank you to everyone who came to see us over the last two days (Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th September) at the Emergency Services Show in Birmingham.

As the show celebrates its 20th anniversary, thousands of visitors flocked through the doors as over 400 exhibitors filled Hall 5 to showcase the very latest in equipment, technology and operational support across all the emergency services and the voluntary search and rescue and resilience sector.

As our charity celebrates its 50th anniversary, this year’s show was another huge success, providing a great opportunity to engage with our main stakeholders at HM Coastguard and speak with visiting Coastguard Rescue Officers from around the country. It was also a prime to sell some special 50th anniversary merchandise and add some more signatures to our 50th Anniversary Big Tour flag.

As a 100 per cent volunteer-led charity, the Emergency Services Show also gives a platform for our operating committee to get together face-to-face to discuss future plans which included showcasing our new Coastguard Rescue Teddy Bear which will be available soon!

And this year may have just finished, but the planning has already started for next year with the 2027 Emergency Services Show set to take place on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th October.

Thanks again to everyone who came to visit us during the show, and our sincerest thanks to everyone for their continued support as we strive to help Coastguards and their families in their time of need.

Coastguard Rescue Service Changes – Official Statement

Official statement from the Coastguard Association

As the charity dedicated to supporting Coastguard personnel and their families in their time of need, we are aware it has been a challenging period for Coastguard Rescue Officers in light of a planned move to a revised voluntary model in September and loss of remuneration.

While we remain independent from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency and operate apolitically with no involvement or influence over internal matters within the Coastguard Rescue Service, we want to acknowledge yesterday’s announcement by Keir Mather, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, confirming the plans to move to the expenses-only volunteer model in September will not go ahead, and current arrangements will remain in place.

The statement advises the MCA will carry out further engagement over the coming months to inform future decisions on the shape of the Coastguard Rescue Service, with the Department of Transporting exploring options for how Coastguard Rescue Officers can continue to be rightfully recognised and rewarded and have the flexibility to continue to serve their communities.

Given how politically charged the social media landscape has been over recent weeks around the Coastguard Rescue Service, we have intentionally reduced our public facing activities to ensure we remain impartial, not to be viewed or considered as a form of trade union and not to dilute or confuse any public conversations or perceptions around coastguard activities, funding and future operations.

As a 100 percent volunteer-led charity, we have continued to work tirelessly in the background to help and support current and former Coastguard personnel in their time of hardship. We are also blessed to have had some incredible fundraising undertaken around the coast and a number of significant donations, all of which we will share over the coming days and weeks, as our public facing content resumes.

As a committee, we are continuing to look at how any future operating changes may impact our charity, while continuing to engage with our members and review and develop new fundraising opportunities.

Once again, we want to publicly extend our sincerest thanks to the Coastguard Rescue Officers around the UK who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to those in need at the coast and beyond.

Thank you to everyone for their continued support of our charity.

New Coastguard Voluntary Model Announcement – Official Statement

Official Statement from the Coastguard Association

As the charity dedicated to supporting Coastguard personnel and their families in their time of need, we want to acknowledge the recent announcement regarding the removal of remuneration for Coastguard Rescue Officers and a move to the new voluntary model.

We appreciate this announcement may cause concern and anxiety for Coastguard Rescue Officers around the country, and we are fully cognisant of the rationale and the legal proceedings which have led to this change.

As a management team, we are currently reviewing how this change may impact our charity.

We have had numerous e-mails and are aware of social content posts requesting the Coastguard Association be available to provide some form of representation to Coastguard Rescue Officers regarding this new voluntary operating model.

Since our inception 50 years ago, we have always been very clear that we are a welfare charity to support Coastguards who have found themselves in a time of genuine hardship. We have never purported to be or acted in a manner similar to a union or any representative body in relation to internal matters within the Maritime & Coastguard Agency/Coastguard Rescue Service, and this position is not under review or going to change following this announcement.

Going forward, we will continue to engage and work closely with our key stakeholders and our members to ensure we can support Coastguards past, present and future.

While we are reviewing the potential impact on our charity, the support we offer remains the same and can be accessed by the usual means through our website.

In the meantime, we want to extend our thanks to everyone within the Coastguard Rescue Service for their commitment and dedication, and while we appreciate many may be currently considering their position in light of this announcement, we sincerely hope everyone can find a way to continue to serve their communities and help save lives.

50th Anniversary Annual General Meeting

Massive THANK YOU to everyone who attended our Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 21st March 2026 in Lincolnshire.

This was a historic AGM for number of reasons including marking the start of the charity’s 50th anniversary and the first ever hybrid meeting accommodating both in person and virtual attendance.

It was our pleasure to welcome a representative of HM Coastguard’s Senior Leadership Team to say a few words at the start of the meeting and to thank our charity for the support we provide. This welcomed attendance highlights the wonderful partnership and collaboration between HM Coastguard and the Coastguard Association as we work tirelessly to support the brave men and woman of the Coastguard Rescue Service and HM Coastguard.

The meeting provided an opportunity to update our members on our charitable activities and the support available to serving and retired Coastguards including financial assistance, mental health support, foodbank vouchers and access to our Members Assistance Programme.

Several committee positions were re-elected, namely Stuart our Chair, who was also presented with a small gift having now served 20 years in this role, Joanna our National Secretary, Kevin our Digital Operations & Engagement Lead and Matt who will be taking on an Operational Support Role.