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Following their father’s footsteps at Margate lifeboat

Lifeboats News Release

The sons of two serving members of Margate’s RNLI lifeboat crew have followed in their father’s footsteps by joining the crew and becoming the youngest members of the volunteer team of lifesavers at the station.

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The RNLI has a long tradition of family involvement and Oliver Titcombe and Grant Welch recently signed up on their seventeenth birthday, the youngest age at which they can enrol. They are now starting an intensive training programme to eventually become full seagoing members of both the inshore and all-weather lifeboat crew at Margate. Oliver is in the sixth form at Ursuline College Westgate-on-Sea and Grant is studying at East Kent College.

 

 Peter Barker, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer said: “Our last similar occasion was Connor Edwards following his own father onto the crew some years ago so as well as their own studies for future life Oliver and Grant are now learning new skills and experiencing the satisfaction of engaging in volunteer work in the local community.”

 

RNLI media contacts 

  • Peter Barker, RNLI Margate Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer 07974 064304 [email protected]
  • Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) on 0207 6207426, 07785 296252  [email protected]
  • James Oxley, RNLI Press Officer (London/East/South East) 0207 6207425 / 07786 668825 [email protected]​

 


For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity 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 146,000 lives.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, 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.

About the author

Peter Barker
Volunteer lifeboat press officer, Margate lifeboat station

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