Fund's Scottish supporters invited to Boathouse Opening

Saturday, 24 November 2012 saw the official opening of a new lifeboat station building near Edinburgh.  More than 100 guests were invited - including 20 of Scottish Government's Lifeboat Fund supporters.  Sir Peter Housden KCB, Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government (SG), RNLI Lifeboat Council Member and Chair of The Lifeboat Fund handed the new building over into the care of Queensferry Lifeboat Station.

The event proved a special occasion for the SG's leading fundraisers for The Lifeboat Fund in 2011 and 2012.  Since the charity was registered in Scotland (late in 2010), more than £18,600 has been raised by SG staff.  This great enthusiasm for the cause was acknowledged at the Opening ceremony when Angela Saunders, Hon Secretary of The Fund and principal fundraiser in SG was presented with a framed picture of the lifeboat station. 

The smart new two-storey lifeboat station building at Queensferry sits in the shadow of the iconic Forth Railway Bridge, overlooking the busy Firth of Forth.  Funded by several generous legacies and trusts, it provides sufficient space for the station's new Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Jimmie Cairncross, which was 'named' at a ceremony in Summer 2011 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.  The new station can also accommodate crew training, other facilities and group visits - and means, crucially, that the lifeboat can now launch straight down the pier, saving precious minutes. There is also a fundraising shop, replacing the previous trolley which had to be moved out of the way very quickly in an emergency!  In 2011, Queensferry was the RNLI's busiest inshore station in Scotland, with 62 launches, assisting 117 people.