Council supports water safety campaign
North Ayrshire Council is supporting a water safety campaign that is helping to save lives across Scotland.
The Christopher’s Saving Lives Campaign was started after Duncan and Margaret Spiers’ son Christopher, 28, tragically drowned after slipping and falling into the River Clyde in Glasgow in 2016 following a night out.
On the night of the accident, police officers were nearby and attempted to rescue Christopher – but, tragically, they were unable to reach him due to a damaged or vandalised lifebelt that did not have ropes attached.
If the ropes are missing from life rings, they can only be thrown into the water once and cannot be pulled back in and thrown again in repeated attempts to rescue a person at risk.
Specialist floating lifebelt ropes, which are connected to existing lifebuoys, are made through Duncan and Margaret’s initiative and are available to individuals living near water, organisations, community groups and local authorities.
If a passer-by sees someone in trouble in water, they can grab hold of one end of the brightly-coloured rope and throw it out into the water with the lifebelt attached to it.
The ropes can also be used on their own to rescue someone from a river, loch or canal and can be attached to modern, bullet-shaped throw lines.
The council’s Streetscene team is fitting ten of the bespoke campaign ropes – which have been made in Christopher’s memory and feature his name on the sleeve - to lifebelts across North Ayrshire.
Quote: It is a privilege for us, as a local authority, to support the great work of this campaign. I am really pleased to see these life-saving ropes being attached to lifebuoys here in North Ayrshire.
Quote from: Councillor Alan Hill, Cabinet Member for Communities, Housing and Islands
The campaign is among organisations that are involved in the Scottish Parliament’s cross-party group on Accident Prevention and Safety Awareness, which promotes all aspects of safety through awareness and accident prevention.
Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Green Environment and Economy, added: “Duncan and Margaret are to be applauded for the effort they are making to educate people about the potential dangers of our waterways – and the risks of interfering with water safety equipment.”
Scottish Canals also recently backed the campaign and has bought 60 ropes to position along the canal network - from the lowlands to the highlands – over the next two years.
Duncan explained: “Sadly, people do cut, vandalise and even steal the ropes on lifebelts, and this is putting people’s lives at risk.
“Our lifebelt ropes have already helped to save ten people’s lives in Glasgow alone, and we are very pleased with the support from North Ayrshire Council as we continue to work with as many organisations as possible to raise awareness.”
Please note: To find out more about Duncan and Margaret’s work, please go to the Facebook page “Christopher’s Saving Lives Campaign”.
Published: 09 July 2025