Whitstable saddened at passing of Diane Lamberton, Chair of Fundraising.

Diane collapsed at the station on Wednesday afternoon 11 January, whilst working in the station shop with husband Larry. Despite the efforts of the crew, paramedics and ambulance personnel they were unable to revive her. She had just celebrated her 81^st birthday.

Diane had been on Whitstable RNLI’s fundraising committee for over 50 years, since the station was established in 1963, when in the early days she and other wives would gather to make tea for the lifeboat crew whilst awaiting their return from a lifeboat call-out.

The committee under its first chair, Mary Hardy and subsequently Linda Livingstone became a vibrant fundraising group for the station and the RNLI and Diane took over in November 1986 to become the third chairman in the station’s 53-year history.

Supported by the many other volunteers, Diane continued to build up the support activities and developed the station souvenir shop and ‘galley’ into what has now become an important asset to the station. In doing so she made an invaluable contribution to funding the day to day running of the lifeboat station in Whitstable, which is among the busiest stations in Kent.

Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Mike Judge said: ‘Diane was well known throughout the local community for working tirelessly for the RNLI and liaising with other local fundraising groups.

‘She carried out an enormous amount of unseen work and was also a personal friend to many of the crew and their partners.

‘The whole of the RNLI family will miss her greatly and we will endeavour to support Larry and her family at this time”.

Diane’s funeral will be at Barham Crematorium on Tuesday 31^st January at 3.20pm.

• Chris Davey, Whitstable RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, on 07741 012004 or [email protected]
• Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) on 0207 6207426, 07785 296252 [email protected]
• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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.