Exciting visit for local schoolchildren to RNLI Longhope Lifeboat Station

There was a great deal of excitement when children and staff from the local school came to visit the lifeboat station recently. After meeting the volunteer crew members and a short informative talk from the Coxswain, Kevin Kirkpatrick, there were lots of interesting questions and observations from the children. Next it was time to show them how the pagers work and to see how long it took them to scramble into their lifejackets.

Eventually, with help, the children were safely wearing their lifejackets and it was off to have a look around our Tamar class all-weather lifeboat. They thoroughly enjoyed this experience particularly wearing the headphones and chatting to each other through the intercom and seeing various navigational aids on the computer screens. An obliging volunteer crewmember jumped into the sea and the children saw how the crew quickly respond to a man overboard.

Then it was back into the station for some welcomed treats provided by the crew. Throughout the time they were at the station the children were wonderful, really well behaved and showing a great deal of interest in the lifeboat and the RNLI.

Having had this valuable contact with the youngsters of our community we hope they are more aware of water safety and they have been inspired by the work of RNLI volunteers. It was a real pleasure to have them and their teachers and we look forward to seeing them all again.

Below are a few extracts from the brilliant 'thank you' emails we received from the children.

'I want to tell you that we learnt so much on the lifeboat trip, for example, that there were 27 of our lifeboats made. The thing I enjoyed the most was seeing my dad, going on the lifeboat.' Osmond.

'I want to tell you that I learned so much on our lifeboat trip for example Kevin told us that the lifeboat cost 2 million pounds. It was fun in the cabin when class 2 was on the headphones and it was really kind to let the school on the lifeboat.' Nuala

'I learned that the lifeboat cannot tip over. We were RIGHT NEXT TO MY DADS BOAT. IT WAS exiting, I am happy.' Ruby

'I know that they use a crane on the boat to lift the person on the boat when they are off the side of the boat or lost at sea on a sinking boat.' Craig

'I learned how every type of lifeboat is named after rivers and how to rescue people. You must have spent a lot of money on the snacks! When we went in the cabin it was fun because of the headphones, we got to speak to others. I liked the information Kevin told us. I’d love to do this again sometime. So this is a big thank you.' Neve

And a big thank you to North Walls School from RNLI Longhope.

RNLI media contacts

Mary Harris, Longhope Lifeboat Press Officer, 07709 692811, [email protected]

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.

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