Swanage RNLI lifeboat station celebrates long service award for volunteer

Winner of the 2024 #WomenInSAR award, Dr Phillips became an RNLI volunteer member in 1994, when she joined the crew at Poole RNLI Lifeboat Station, coincidentally becoming the 100th female crew member in the RNLI. During her time on the crew at Poole lifeboat station, Holly became a helm on the inshore lifeboat, and a navigator on the all-weather lifeboat, before leaving the crew in 2012. In 2015, Holly joined the board of trustees of the RNLI’s defined benefits pension scheme, which she says has given her “a very different perspective on the charity’s operation and has benefitted me greatly in my various other RNLI roles.”

Dr Phillips' very first shout on an RNLI lifeboat came before she’d even joined the crew at Poole. She was at the lifeboat station when a launch request came in, reporting an aircraft had ditched into the sea off Bournemouth Pier. Not enough enrolled crew were available, and knowing Holly’s boating background, the Coxswain asked if she would like to join the crew, which would not be possible in the RNLI today. Holly didn’t hesitate to say yes, and joined the volunteer crew in the search. No evidence of the aircraft was found, most likely a report with good intent, but the shout was what led to Holly applying to become a volunteer lifeboat crew member.

Alongside her volunteer roles with the RNLI, Dr Phillips was also a staff member at the RNLI for over 20 years, working as Senior, and then Principal Naval Architect at RNLI Headquarters in Poole, from 2002. Holly and her team were responsible for the structural and stability aspects of RNLI lifeboats and equipment. Her roles as both volunteer crew member and engineer gave Holly additional insights, which helped ensure the designs were fit for purpose in the harsh environment of lifeboat operations.

In 2014, Holly received an MBE for services to Maritime Safety and the community from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which she calls “a proud life achievement.”

Having holidayed in a cottage behind the lifeboat station as a child, and remembering racing to watch the launches after hearing the maroons, joining Swanage RNLI lifeboat station as a Launch Authority in 2025 was a ‘coming home’ moment for Holly, who rows Cornish pilot gigs in the bay, with the local rowing club, in her spare time.

Dr Phillips sums up her life, and RNLI career, with a quote from Winnie the Pooh; ‘Sometimes a boat is a boat and sometimes it’s more of an accident. It all depends on whether I’m on top of it or underneath it!’