Your RNLI Summer 2024

Welcome

Lifesaving never stops – not even for a birthday with two noughts on the end. Right now, with your support, RNLI lifesavers are training harder than ever to get ready for another busy summer ahead.

The RNLI may be 200 years old, but the celebrations are only just getting going. Special events include the Connecting RNLI Communities relay – an epic road trip in celebration of One Crew coming to a lifeboat station near you. And One Month, One Crew – a moment in time (at 18.24 on 1.8.24) to share with the rest of your amazing RNLI family.

In this issue, you’ll find out the difference you make every day. You’ll meet a young boy, whose sister is alive because he remembered a water safety lesson in school. Lifeguards whose fast reactions and quick thinking saved the day on a busy beach in Cornwall. And for Father’s Day, the children at Teddington Lifeboat Station, who reveal what they really think about their dads.

Connecting your community

As the torches wend their way to Paris for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, RNLI communities around our nations will be enjoying a relay-style event of their own. A scroll containing the RNLI’s One Crew pledge, marking 200 years of saving lives at sea, departed from Westminster Abbey on 4 March on route to Douglas Lifeboat Station on the Isle of Man. Follow its progress at RNLI.org/relay200.

Bridlington’s young lifeboat animators

In January, Bridlington RNLI hosted a free animation workshop to get its RNLI 200 celebrations underway in stunning fashion. The lifeboat station joined up with Animated Objects Theatre Company and local schoolchildren to create a short film, which was projected onto the wall of Bridlington Spa at dusk.

WE CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU: How would you like to hear from us?

Rob Westcott

Email: your_rnli@rnli.org.uk

We’re so grateful for the support you have shown for the RNLI –it all helps save lives. But if you would rather not hear from us, or would like to change how we contact you, please get in touch. Just call 0300 300 9918 (from the UK), 01 511 9837 (from Ireland), or +44 1202 663234 (from any other country) on weekdays, 8am–6pm, go to RNLI.org/preferences or write to our Supporter Experience Team, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, BH15 1HZ.

Cover photo: RNLI Lifeguard Bethan Phillips at Llangrannog Beach, Dyfed.

Photo: RNLI/Nathan Williams

RNLI TO THE RESCUE

Wedged on a weir

TEDDINGTON | 17 AUGUST 2023

‘Like a washing machine’

PORTHCAWL | 8 OCTOBER 2023

A man who was swept away from the shore by a powerful current survived after remembering to float to live. ‘It was like being in a washing machine and having a small car dropped on my head every few minutes,’ he says. Acting on RNLI advice to lie on his back, he managed to keep his head above water and regain control of his breathing until the Porthcawl lifeboat crew arrived.

Two children were among those onboard a river cruiser that became stuck on barriers above Teddington Weir after its engine cut out. Help arrived after the driver of another boat alerted the lock keeper, who called 999. In windy conditions, the crew of Teddington RNLI’s D class lifeboat managed to set up a tow, before safely returning the cruiser and the four occupants to its mooring downstream. 1 2 3

Heartwarming homecoming

BALLYCOTTON | 9 JANUARY 2024

When a fishing boat broke down on a bitterly cold night, the crew of Ballycotton’s all-weather lifeboat towed it to neighbouring Crosshaven to escape the worst of the weather. As they approached the entrance to Cork Harbour, there was an unusual welcoming party – a pod of playful dolphins swam alongside the boats and saw them safely into the harbour.

‘Thank

you for helping Harvey save my daughter’s life’

A young boy receives a special award after remembering RNLI water safety advice

Harvey (5) and his sister Elliemay (8) were on holiday in Majorca when Elliemay got into difficulty in a swimming pool. Mum Zoe Wheelan says: ‘Elliemay got out of her depth and started to panic. She was in serious danger of drowning.’ Harvey knew exactly what to do: he kept calm and clearly raised the alarm. This attracted the attention of others who then rushed to help his sister.

RNLI volunteers from Llandudno had visited Harvey’s school just days earlier to talk to the children about water safety. They had taught him not to panic, and to put his hands up and call for help if he ever got into trouble in the water. Zoe believes that advice helped to save her daughter’s life. Water Safety Volunteer Myfanwy Jones returned to the school and presented Harvey with a special certificate to congratulate him on listening so attentively.

Zoe Wheelan, Harvey’s mum ‘The first thing I did when I got home was to thank the RNLI’

‘He did exactly the right thing’: Llandudno RNLI’s Myfanwy Jones presents Harvey with a special award

Photo: RNLI/Claire Elshaw

DRAGGED INTO THE DEEP

A fun day at the coast nearly ends in tragedy for a group of eight teenage friends

Eagle-eyed RNLI lifeguards were doing what they always do at Tregantle Beach in Cornwall – scanning the surf for signs of trouble. The sea was choppy and unpredictable, and Senior Lifeguards Harry Moir and Rupert Callard were having to make constant adjustments to the red and yellow flags marking the safe swim zone.

When eight people started to be swept out to sea by a flash rip current, Rupert and Harry sprang into action. Pausing only to radio their lead lifeguard supervisor for back up, they grabbed their rescue boards and powered out into the waves.

Mass rescue

Lead Lifeguard Supervisor Charlie Gillett takes up the story. ‘There were probably about 40 swimmers between our flags. But I could see people right at the back of it, out of their depth. We practise how to respond to different situations. We’re trained to think on our feet and make split-second decisions.’

Two people were further out than the rest, and they were in the greatest danger. Rupert paddled out to them as fast as he could, while Harry focused his efforts on the larger group.

‘A brilliant result’

Once Rupert and Harry had all eight swimmers safely on their rescue boards, they paddled through the breaking waves and surf until the water was shallow enough to walk everyone back onto the beach.

Charlie reflects: ‘It’s unusual to do big rescues like this in the swim zone, but it goes to show how unpredictable the sea can be. Two swimmers most certainly would have drowned had we not reached them in time. It was a brilliant result.’

Photos: RNLI/(Charlie Gillett, Nathan Williams)

Keeping watch on the beach

Regular training prepares RNLI lifeguards for emergencies like these

Rupert Callard and Harry Moir after rescuing eight people from a flash rip current on Tregantle Beach

‘My cool dad’

Dads are special.

And for one group of children in Teddington on the River Thames, they are extra special

One thing that all lifeboat volunteers have in common is an automatic response when their crew pagers go off – dropping everything and leaving family and friends behind when people need their help. Nowhere is this truer than at Teddington on the River Thames where, in 2022 alone, lifeboats launched over 100 times.

Sophie (11) is thrilled that her dad Chris is on the crew. ‘I’m very proud about what Daddy does, and he loves it too,’ she says. Her brother Jake (9) is equally impressed: ‘I am happy when I hear Dad’s pager go off because he’s going to save someone.’

Anna (12) is Crew Member Sam’s daughter. She says: ‘My Dad spends lots of time training – and going to the pub after training! When the pager goes off in our house everything stops as he runs off to the

station. I think it’s really cool that he helps people.’

For lifeboat dads like Chris and Sam, volunteering goes way beyond responding to a crew pager. There is crew training and drowning prevention work – talking to groups of young people in the community about water safety – welcoming visitors to the station, fundraising, and much more. All of which means that lifeboat dads tend to be at home less often than other dads.

It’s not just the youngsters at Teddington who are proud of their lifeboat dads –several of the grown-ups are too. Evan (24) is full of praise for his father, Volunteer Helm Tim James: ‘As we grew up, we watched our dad serve to protect. Whether it was responding to an emergency call out, search and rescue or serving the community.

Chris with his children Sophie and Jake

This was a true testament of his character and what it means to be part of the RNLI, and we are proud to call him our father.’ (Tim is also keen to underline how proud he is of Evan and his other children Daniel and Heidi.)

Like Tim, Ray Searles is a volunteer helm. His daughter Gracie says: ‘I am so grateful to have a dad who has shown up for me consistently and never let me down. Volunteering with the RNLI also means he’s there for others. I want him to know that he is the best dad anyone could ever ask for.’

Well said, Gracie! So let’s give a shout out shall we for all RNLI dads – wherever they may be – for Father’s Day on 16 June.

Photos: Tristan Knowles, Laura Lewis, RNLI

Tristan’s picture of his dad, getting ready to save lives on the River Thames

Lifeboat volunteers serving the community on the River Thames

With an awesome welcome pack and FOUR fantastic magazines a year, Storm Force will educate, entertain and stimulate young minds. Kids will love being part of our exclusive RNLI club.

As they immerse themselves in Stormy Stan’s world, they’ll acquire a healthy respect for the sea too. They’ll find out things like:

• how to choose a safe place to swim

• why swimming in moving seawater is different to swimming in an indoor pool

• what to do if they get into trouble

• who to call if they see someone else in trouble.