Could you help save lives with RNLI Harwich?

With the relaxing of Covid restrictions this summer, it is expected to be one of the busiest ever for the Essex station, which is located in an area popular for recreational water sports and leisure activities, while also sitting between two international ports.

Many people will be starting again with a renewed sense of community pride, and wondering how they too can do their bit for the local community, like the ‘Covid Community Heroes’. There is no better thing you can do than to save a life, and RNLI Harwich are looking for just such people, to help save lives on the water by volunteering to crew the town’s all-weather and inshore lifeboats.

Neal Sandquest, Coxswain at RNLI Harwich Lifeboat Station, said: ‘There are no particular skills or experience required to join. We’re looking for volunteers from all walks of life, bringing a melting pot of different skills and abilities. If someone is able to work with others, enthusiastic about saving lives at sea, willing to learn new skills, ready to put their life on hold when the call comes, and is not afraid of hard physical work, this could be the volunteering role for them.

‘It’s a great station to volunteer on, and a unique one too, being located between two busy ports, covering an area that also takes in Ipswich and the Suffolk coastline past Felixstowe, popular for water sports and tourists. Our two lifeboats and their crews are kept busy with a wide variety of call outs – it’s fair to say no two are ever exactly the same!’

Anyone interested in making a difference, and would like to know more about volunteering at RNLI Harwich can do so by visiting them on Facebook, or by emailing [email protected]

RNLI media contacts

For more information please telephone Richard Wigley, RNLI volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07903424698 or [email protected] or Clare Hopps, Regional Media Officer on 07824518641 or [email protected] or contact the RNLI Press Office 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.