2011 fundraising is recognised by RNLI
Wednesday, 3 October 2012 was a special day for The Lifeboat Fund’s Executive Committee. Its meeting was hosted by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution at Tower Lifeboat Station – the busiest station in the UK, which ‘floats’ at the edge of the River Thames. That was a treat in itself.
The meeting was followed by a short event to mark The Lifeboat Fund’s support of its beneficiary in 2011. Bianca Fischer (RNLI) thanked The Fund most warmly for providing £200,000 that year, to purchase training and kit for crews around the UK, referring to the charity’s sustained position as the RNLI’s single largest regular supporter.
The £200,000 gifted to the RNLI last year could make possible the training of nearly 100 crew members and the kitting-out of up to a further 100.
A lifejacket (a 'life-saving symbol'), representing the 2011 donation, was handed over by Sir Peter Housden KCB, The Fund’s Chair, to Stan Todd, a full-time (FT) helm at Tower - pictured above.
During a tour of the lifeboat station, Trustees learned that:
- Tower had been the busiest station in the country in all ten years since it started
- so far in 2012, there had been 406 shouts, and 21 lives saved
- the station had 10 FT crew and 48 volunteers (FT crew were needed as there was no time to 'page': launches needed to happen within 90 seconds on that dangerous stretch of river). The crew included paramedics and there was a dedicated first-aid room on site.
The Lifeboat Fund has given significant support to Tower lifeboat station in recent years. In 2006, the charity provided £400,000 towards the refurbishment of Lifeboat Pier, and purchased Public Servant formerly the principal lifeboat there, at a cost of £270,000. In 2012, The Fund aims to provide a sum of at least £20,000 to Tower, where Public Servant is held for service – to support maintenance and upkeep.
Trustees were delighted to see the lifeboat station in such great condition, and to know the charity had some hand in that!
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The view from Lifeboat Pier