One Moment for One Crew: RNLI volunteers from Looe take part in special photo

The charity, which was founded in 1824, asked its volunteers and staff from around the UK and Ireland to take a photo of themselves, their crew or their team, at as close to 18:24 on 1.8.24 as possible. Whether lifeguards on a beach, lifeboat crew at a station, fundraisers at an event, or volunteers in a museum – all involved with the charity have been encouraged to submit a photo of themselves representing their RNLI role at wherever they may be on this date and time.

Representatives including Looe’s volunteer lifeboat crew, together with members of the station’s shop, visits and fundraising teams have taken part. Their photo has been uploaded to an online portal and will be used to create a montage image. The RNLI celebrated its 200^th anniversary on 4 March this, and this photographic moment is one of a range of events and programmes which the charity has organised to mark its bicentenary.

Looe lifeboat station’s Albatross boathouse was full of music at 18.24 on 010824, hosting a Looe carnival week concert. Looe RNLI's One Crew mustered the evening before, to line the slipway, with the Albatross boathouse and the charity's Atlantic 85 Sheila and Dennis Tongue II as a backdrop. The D Class inshore lifeboat, Ollie Naismith II was on little beach.

This photo includes Looe RNLI’s Lifeboat Operations Manager, David Haines, who along with duty launch authority Brian Bowdler first volunteered back in 1992, when Looe Lifeboat Station was re established. Joining David and Brian are senior helms David Jackman and Toby Bray who joined the crew in the first year. The photograph also features the next generation of lifesavers with senior helm Clive Palfrey and his daughter Amber together with senior helm Matt Jaycock and his nephew Will. Amber and Will are carrying on the family tradition of volunteering as lifeboat crew.

In a co-incidence of timing, this current picture was taken 94 years to the day after our original lifeboat station was closed during the evening of 31 July 1930. David Haines says “It is great to see our current team lining the slipway, with some of the original 1992/93 crew still volunteering with the station, alongside our latest volunteer crew, all continuing that early lifesaving tradition.”

Anjie Rook, RNLI Associate Director, who is overseeing the RNLI’s 200^th anniversary programmes, says:

‘The RNLI has been saving lives at sea for 200 years thanks to its incredible people – the courageous lifeboat crews and lifeguards who put their own lives at risk to save others; the dedicated fundraisers who raise the income to power those rescues; the committed volunteers who give their own time in a range of other roles such as giving out water safety advice, facilitating visits to our lifeboat stations or helping to run our retail shops and museums, and the staff who provide vital support to our volunteers.

‘We have encouraged anyone who has some form of involvement with the RNLI to participate in this special One Moment for One Crew photographic event, to capture a record of everyone who, at this moment in time, is playing some part in the RNLI’s lifesaving work, continuing its legacy and securing its future.

‘During our 200^th anniversary year we have been remembering our past, celebrating the lifesaving service we provide today, and aiming to inspire future generations of lifesavers and supporters. One Moment for One Crew is very much about celebrating the people of today’s RNLI and, we hope, inspiring those future generations who will take the RNLI into its third century of lifesaving.’

Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its volunteer crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has continued saving lives at sea throughout the past two centuries. Today, it operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, including four on the River Thames, and has seasonal lifeguards on 238 lifeguarded beaches around the UK. It designs and builds its own lifeboats and runs domestic and international water safety programmes.

For further information about the RNLI’s 200^th anniversary, visit www.RNLI.org/200 .

Notes to Editors

Photos

· One Moment One Crew – Looe RNLI volunteers on the slipway, outside the Albatross boathouse
Photo credit : Polly Stock Photography.

Information:

· Re-established as an inshore lifeboat station in 1992, Looe RNLI operate two inshore lifeboats
An Atlantic 85 Sheila and Dennis Tongue II and a D Class Ollie Naismith II

· For further information on Looe RNLI Lifeboats please visit our website https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/looe-lifeboat-station

· Looe RNLI Facebook page www.facebook.com/LooeRNLI

· In 2024, the RNLI will be celebrating 200 years - and counting, commemorating this remarkable past, celebrating our lifesaving achievements today, and inspiring a future where we can save every one. More information on RNLI 200 can be found at https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/2024

Media contacts

For more information please telephone

Ian Foster, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for Looe Lifeboat Station, on 07902 753228 or [email protected] or [email protected]

or Emma Haines, RNLI Regional Communications Manager, on 07866 668847 or [email protected]

or Amy Caldwell, RNLI Regional Communications Lead, on 07920 818807 or [email protected]

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, Twitter 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.