Wirral | Archive | 2005 | June | 15
From the Wirral Globe, first published Wednesday 15th Jun 2005.
£10 MILLION fundraising appeal to train lifeboat crews held its regional launch at the Mersey River Festival on Friday.
Crews of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) Hoylake lifeboat station were at the display lending their support as a hand-held flare was set off.
The lifesaving charity's national Crew Training Campaign will run for five years to help provide vital training for its volunteer lifeboat crews.
Kim Jackson, 55, Hoylake training officer said: "I think this event is great. It's super so many people have turned up. People interested in lifeboats have been able to come and have a look around."
With only 10% of new volunteer lifeboat crew having professional maritime backgrounds, training is now more important than ever.
In the past - particularly in areas such as Hoylake - the majority of crews were fishermen, but with the demise of the fishing industry, volunteers now come from every walk of life.
Training is the magic ingredient that turns ordinary people into lifeboat crew who save lives at sea.
It costs £1,300 to train a new recruit to become an all weather crew member and an average of £1000 for training each crew member every year.
The RNLI rely entirely on voluntary contributions to help turn willing volunteers into effective lifesavers via their mobile training units and at The Lifeboat College in Pool.
Essential skills covered in crew training include seamanship, navigation, sea survival and first aid.
Mr Jackson said: "The work of the RNLI is very important on this coastline. It is a very dangerous area of coastline and we save a lot of lives."
Dave Whiteley, Coxswain of the RNLI Hoylake lifeboat, helped launch the campaign along with members of his crew.
He said: "Like all volunteer lifeboat crews, the Hoylake RNLI crew are highly trained and commit a lot of their spare time to achieve this.
"The RNLI Crew Training Campaign will help to fund such essential training for our volunteer lifeboatmen and women, ensuring we continue to have highly-skilled crews who are always ready for action."
To contribute to the RNLI Crew Training Campaign call 0800543210 or visit rnli.org.uk/crewtraining.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008