Amble RNLI set to welcome new Shannon class lifeboat

An RNLI fundraising appeal to raise £200,000 towards the cost of the new vessel was launched in 2014. After a multitude of events ranging from coffee mornings and sponsored runs through to golf days and a fashion show, the impressive target was reached in June this year.

Amble’s Shannon has been built at the charity’s All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, Dorset. The money raised by the appeal funded the completion of the vessel.

The new lifeboat will be named Elizabeth and Leonard in memory of a couple whose legacy will help partially to fund it.

Katrina Cassidy, Chairperson of the Amble Lifeboat Fundraising Committee (ALF), said: ‘We were delighted when we managed to hit our £200,000 Shannon appeal target in just 23 months and we really can’t wait to welcome our new lifeboat to the town.

‘We hope that everyone who raised money for our appeal and offered such phenomenal support will come and see her arrive – it certainly promises to be an historic occasion.’

RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, John Wingfield, said: ‘Naturally we’ll miss our current all-weather lifeboat The Four Boys but we’re also excited about receiving a Shannon, whose advanced technology means we’ll be able to reach people a lot more quickly and further off shore.

‘Our volunteer crew can’t wait to start a new chapter of lifesaving with the Shannon. Everyone who supported our fundraising appeal can take real pride in knowing that each time we launch to save a life or reunite a family with a loved-one, that they have made this possible.’

RNLI Photo caption

The photographs show Amble RNLI’s new Shannon class lifeboat in action. Credit: Steve Lowe.

For more information or to attend, please contact Alison Levett, RNLI PR Manager North, on 07786 668912 or at [email protected]. Or Alan Stewart, Amble RNLI volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07919 924704.

Notes to editors

• Amble RNLI launched a fundraising appeal in July 2014 to raise £200,000 towards the cost of its new Shannon class lifeboat. The total cost of the vessel is £2M.

• Mrs Elizabeth Foley Brumfield from Hull left a generous legacy to the RNLI following her death in 2013. She requested that it be used towards the purchase of an all-weather lifeboat in memory of her and her late husband, Leonard. Elizabeth was a lifelong supporter of the RNLI and her father was a marine engineer. Amble RNLI’s Shannon class lifeboat will be named Elizabeth and Leonard in their memory.

• The naming ceremony for the Shannon will take place in spring 2017. The date has yet to be confirmed.

• Amble RNLI’s current all-weather lifeboat The Four Boys will join the charity’s relief lifeboat fleet.

• The Shannon is the RNLI’s next generation all-weather lifeboat and is the most agile in the RNLI fleet. It is the first modern RNLI all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by water jets and not propellers. Capable of 25 knots, the Shannon is 50% faster than the lifeboats it replaces, ensuring that those in need are reached more quickly than before.

• The RNLI has an All-weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) at its headquarters in Poole, Dorset. The facility brings every stage of the lifeboat building process under one roof.

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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