Donation to Hunstanton RNLI remembers Peterborough man who loved Norfolk coast
Donation to Hunstanton RNLI remembers Peterborough man who loved Norfolk coast
Lifeboats News Release
Family and friends of a Peterborough man who loved the Norfolk coast raised money for the charity that saves lives at sea with a collection at his funeral.
RNLI/Chris Bishop/the Smith family
Jo Smith and members of the Smith family present a cheque to Paul Stewart, deputy launch authority at Hunstanton lifeboat station
Alan George Smith, who passed away the age of 82 on 7 August, was remembered at a service at Peterborough Crematorium on 11 September.
Mourners donated £250 to the work of the RNLI in a collection afterwards.
Alan's 76-year-old widow Jo and family members presented the money to lifeboat volunteers at the Hunstanton station on 22 October.
Paul Stewart, one of Hunstanton's deputy launch authorities, said the work of its volunteers would not be possible without the kindness of its supporters.
Alan's oldest son Mark, said: 'As a family, we've had a caravan on different sites up here for 30 years.
'It's a coastline that Dad just really loved.'
He added his father discovered his love of the sea growing up in Ramsgate, in Kent, during and after the Second World War, in which his father George served on Russian convoys, before his parents moved back to Peterborough.
Alan, who worked as a toolmaker, met his future wife Jo in the early 1960s.
She worked as a nurse in the hospital in Peterborough, and helped care for him after he injured his knee and needed an operation.
The couple, who married on 25 September, 1965, would go on to enjoy many holidays at Hunstanton with their two children, where in later life they spent happy times together and made many friends in the area.
Notes for editor
Hunstanton is one of the busiest RNLI stations in Norfolk.
It's volunteer crew have so far launched 25 times during 2023, to shouts ranging from people cut off by the tide to kite surfers, jet skiers and fishermen in danger or in difficulty.
The station is one of just four around the UK coastline which operates a hovercraft,
Hunstanton Flyer, alongside its Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk.
RNLI media contacts
For more information call Chris Bishop, Hunstanton RNLI volunteer Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07584 147219 or Clare Hopps, Regional Media Officer on 07824 518641.
Courtesy of the Smith family
The order of service for Alan George Smith's funeral at Peterborough Crematorium on Monday, 11 September
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.
