RNLI crew members honour their retired Coxswain
The Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat crew members were finally able to honour their now retired Coxswain Robin Castle MBE with a presentation to mark his 40years service at Sheerness.
Sheerness RNLI Lifeboat crew members past and present turned out in force at the Abbey Hotel, Minster on Saturday 2 July to pay their respects to Robin, who retired as full time coxswain at the Sheerness RNLI lifeboat station last year.
Area Lifesaving Managers Neil Withers and Jason Carrol were on hand to present Certificates of Thanks to Inshore Lifeboat crew members Andy Barnes, Jason Strudwick and Lucas Rodgers for their ‘life saved’ rescue of a man in the water off Sheerness last year and Certificates of recognition of service to the RNLI to past crew members Jason and Kerry.
The ‘main event’ began with a brief outline by Neil Withers of Robin’s illustrious service to the RNLI at Sheerness which apart from his MBE includes bravery awards, Certificates of Thanks and Freeman of the Borough of Sheppey amongst others. Over his 40 years of service Robin attended in excess of 650 callouts with numerous lives saved.
To show their appreciation on behalf of all crew members, past and present Coxswain Paul Jarvis ,Second Coxswain Clive Hancock and ALM Neil Withers presented Robin with an RNLI Long Service Medal, Certificate of Thanks from John Payne, head of lifeboat services at the RNLI, a framed original painting by artist Ralph Curnow, a watch by Elliot Brown Ltd of Poole, who after hearing of Robin’s ‘exploits’ donated it FOC and finally an album of photos taken throughout his 40years service.
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 142,700 lives.
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