Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2010/January 2011 | Page 86
social scene
Island Life - December 2010
Photo: The lifeboat team coming in for recovery in a gale force 6 at Sandown
Brave volunteers help to
keep our waters safe
WORDS - PETER WHITE
They come from all walks of life, but
their valuable time for free to try to
lifeboat, the station, equipment and the
have one common goal. The volunteers
ensure the waters around the Island
tractor that is needed to help launch
who make up the crew of Sandown
remain a safe haven. But when the
and bring the boat back out of the
and Shanklin Independent Lifeboat
emergency call comes they unite to
water,” emphasised Mark, who revealed
suddenly put aside their day jobs when
form a close-knit and well-drilled team
that £16,000 has to be found each year
the need arises to perform courageous
to provide invaluable aid to those in
just to keep the operation afloat.
and sometimes heroic tasks in perilous
difficulty.
conditions.
“We’ve got builders, tilers, caterers,
There has been an independent
The Sandown and Shanklin Lifeboat,
lifeboat around Sandown Bay since the
whose chairman is Ron Teasdale, is one
1880s. The current station has been its
labours and even a lawyer,” smiled
of three independent lifeboats on the
home for 40 years, and the boat – an
Mark Birch, coxswain for the past 15
Island. Like the other two, located at
Atlantic 21 Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) –
years of the lifeboat, which is stationed
Ryde and Freshwater, it is funded solely
is more than 20 years old.
some 300 yards south of Sandown Pier.
by charitable donations.
Mark can call on 16 crew members,
“We have absolutely no administration
It is set to be replaced next year with
a more modern version, and when
two shore helpers, five fund-raisers
charges, and everything that is raised
funds, and hopefully a lottery grant are
and even a padre, who all give up
goes towards the upkeep of our
forthcoming, a new £180,000 station
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