Residents are being invited to Riverside Park to take part in a throw rope demonstration during a River Itchen visit by the Lord Mayor, hosted by the Maritime Volunteer Service.
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The Maritime Volunteer Service (MVS) Southampton Unit will host the Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Southampton, Cllr James Baillie, on Monday, April 6 for a special tour of the River Itchen in his historic role as Admiral of the Port.
The tour will start at Shamrock Quay, with the mayor flying his flag aboard the privately owned vessel ‘Wizard of Bembridge’ and accompanied by the MVS Itchen Volunteer and the Hamble Independent Lifeboats.
The flotilla will berth at St Denys Boat Club between 1pm to 3pm, before the group crosses Cobden Bridge to Riverside Park where members of the public are invited to take part in a throw rope demonstration.
This will make use of the new throw rope cabinets installed by the council over the winter to replace life buoys which had been vandalised. The demonstration will take place at Riverside Park, nearby to Cobden Bridge, between 1pm and 3pm, and local people are encouraged to join in and learn valuable water safety skills.
The Southampton Water Safety Forum, which includes representatives from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, Hampshire Constabulary, HM Coastguard, RNLI, Hamble Lifeboat, the Harbour Master, and Southampton MVS successfully championed for council funding of the new throw ropes.
The group has also helped promote the development of a new lifeboat station under the Itchen Bridge, which will operate as a satellite station of the Hamble Independent Lifeboat.
Cllr Baillie, Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Southampton, said: “The new Throw Rope Cabinets are vital pieces of kit. We are so lucky to have many blue spaces throughout Southampton, and with the warmer months coming, water safety is especially important.
“I encourage as many people as possible to come down on Monday to see the demonstrations. I’m also hugely grateful to The Southampton Water Safety Forum for their hard work and dedication to this project and beyond.”