New Kärcher cleaning equipment at RNLI Whitstable

The cleaning equipment could save volunteers hours of time, speeding up their cleaning routines after responding to a shout.

All 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland are set to receive Kärcher cleaning equipment across the next three years. This will include professional grade pressure washers and other important cleaning appliances to support with vital maintenance at every lifeboat station.

Depending on their requirements, each station will receive different cleaning appliances to help speed up cleaning processes and improve cleaning power, so RNLI lifesavers can easily get ready to launch again.

Mike Judge at Whitstable Lifeboat Station said: 'Kärcher’s equipment will really help us in the vital maintenance of the station and lifeboat. Maintaining and cleaning the equipment and lifeboat station is important to keep it in the best condition possible and ensures we are ready at all times to save lives at sea.

‘We’re lucky enough to have received a walk-behind Scrubber Dryer will help our volunteers to reduce the time spent cleaning and ensure the task is a lot easier on our lifesaving crew.’

Luke Stirling, Kärcher UK ‘The RNLI staff were really friendly and very impressed with the machine. They are all looking forward to having a go’.

In September 2021, the launch of the partnership was celebrated with ‘reverse graffiti’ at Brighton Marina. The clean art was pressure washed onto a harbour wall, displaying the RNLI’s lifesaving message ‘Float to Live’.

James Gordon, Kärcher UK Marketing Director said:

“We are proud and honoured to be partnering with the RNLI, and supporting the vital work they do in saving lives at sea. We’re delighted that our equipment will play a role in keeping the boats and stations clean and ready for callouts at all times during the year."

As well as providing cleaning equipment, Kärcher are supporting the partnership by running a number of fundraising activities and sales promotions throughout the partnership to raise vital funds to help the RNLI continue saving lives at sea.

Notes to editors

Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.

The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Miss Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.

She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.RNLI media contacts

• Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
  07741 012004/ [email protected]

• Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (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 142,700 lives.

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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.