Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat station celebrates International Women’s Day
Sunday 8 March is International Women’s Day 2026 which aims to celebrate and promote the achievements of women. Across the RNLI, we are celebrating our women who help us save lives at sea.
At Lyme Regis we now have the five women enrolled in our crew. This is the highest number we have ever had and is achieved in the year the RNLI celebrates 200 years of association with Lyme Regis. Female volunteers also make a major contribution in managing our highly successful shop, in our water safety team and in fundraising for our lifesaving charity.
Female enrolled lifeboat crew are Petrina Muscroft (Chair of Lifeboat Management Group, Head Launcher and Shorecrew), Maria Barbashina (Seagoing Crew), Joe Street (Seagoing Crew and ILB Navigator), Karem Redfearn (Shorecrew) and Rose Tomlinson (Social Media Officer). Our RNLI shop is managed by Krys Lavery.
Lifeboat Operation Manager Mark Colley said: ‘Our female crew make a significant contribution to our lifesaving operations both at sea and ashore. Women are also involved in the management of the station and our shop, as well as being fully integrated into our water safety, fundraising and media teams.’
This week (March 2-6), around 80 women from across the RNLI, each fulfilling a variety of lifeboat station roles, came together for the RNLI’s #WomenInSAR Training Week at the RNLI College in Poole, Dorset.
Speakers included the RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes and Chair Janet Legrand as well as head of region in the North and East Rebecca Felton and the RNLI’s first female full time Coxswain Di Bush.
All attendees also took part in a mix of networking, confidence and leadership workshops, fitting in with the Give to Gain theme of this year’s International Women’s Day.
To find out more about volunteering at the RNLI, including current vacancies, please visit: rnli.org/support-us/volunteer and for information about influential women in the RNLI’s history, please visit: https://rnli.org/magazine/magazine-featured-list/2024/may/15-influential women-of-the-rnli
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Notes to editors
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Photo 1 caption: Lyme Regis female lifeboat crew (Left to Right - Karem Redfearn, Joe Street, Rose Tomlinson, Maria Barbashina, Petrina Muscroft). Credit: RNLI/Nick Marks
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Photo 2 caption: RNLI Lyme Regis Shop Manager Krys Lavery. Credit: RNLI/Richard Horobin
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Lyme Regis RNLI Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of Loch Fyne at Sea. Photo credit: RNLI/Nick Marks
RNLI media contacts
For more information, please contact Nick Marks, volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer at Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station on 07568 187582 or [email protected], or Emma Haines, Regional Communications Manager, on 07786 668847 or [email protected], or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.