Busy start to week for Filey RNLI

On Monday afternoon (22nd June) the Filey crew formed up in front of both of Filey’s lifeboats along with hundreds of locals to form a guard of honour for the funeral cortege carrying crew member Lee Cowling who has passed away suddenly at the age of 46.

Not long afterwards at 6pm, Filey’s Mersey class all-weather lifeboat, Keep Fit Association, was requested to launch by UK Coastguard (Humber) following the activation of a personal locator beacon (usually indicating a person in the water) to the north of Filey Brigg.

In just nine minutes the ALB had launched on service under the command of Coxswain/Mechanic Neil Cammish with Dave Eblet, Matt Wilkins, Tom Barkley, Paul Wilson and Ian Butler as crew.

15 minutes later a new position indicated that the beacon might be closer inshore so Filey’s ILB, Braund, was requested to launch to carry out a search. The ILB launched within four minutes crewed by Alex Harrison, Gary Wilson, Jamie Brant and Katie Pooley.

Along with Scarborough ALB, rescue helicopter 912 and Coastguard teams, the boats searched for over an hour when it was discovered that the beacon had been accidentally activated.

Just under eight hours later at 4am, UK Coastguard (Humber) requested the launch of Filey ILB to a report that a person may have entered the water off Filey Brigg. The ILB assisted North Yorkshire Police and Coastguard teams from Filey and Scarborough. The person was eventually located part of the way up the cliffs and she was winched to safety by the Coastguard teams.

John Ward, Press Officer for Filey Lifeboat said,” The volunteer crew are always ready to respond to a call. We had a huge turnout for Lee’s funeral cortege and I suspect that somewhere he will be smiling to himself that the crew responded so quickly to both calls. Many thanks to all the Filey crew who attended as well as Scarborough ALB crew, helicopter 912 and the Coastguard teams from Filey and Scarborough”.

Notes to editors

• Filey Lifeboat Station was founded in 1804. It currently operates both a Mersey-Class All-Weather Lifeboat and an Inshore Lifeboat. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to Filey Lifeboat Station Facebook page.

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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