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Sun Shines on Kippford RNLI Open Day

Lifeboats News Release

The volunteers at Kippford RNLI held their annual open day on Saturday 6th July and the crowds enjoyed a much sunnier day than forecast.

Visiting crews at Kippford RNLI Open Day 2024

RNLI/Laura Wilson

Visiting crews at Kippford RNLI Open Day 2024

Visitors to the station were able to get up close to four lifeboats from around the Solway coast. Kippford’s D Class Ronnie Sinclair was joined by Workington RNLI and their Shannon Class Dorothy May White as well as Atlantic Class boats Sheila Stenhouse from Kirkcudbright RNLI and independent lifeboat St John from Nith Inshore Rescue.

The day kicked off at 11am with the boat house open for tea and home baking. Children from the local primary schools had been designing posters to celebrate 200 years of the RNLI and these were on display, Kippford lifeboat crew will be picking their favourites at the end of the summer holidays and will announce the winners afterwards.

Everyone was able to spend time looking at the various vehicles including Kippford’s launch tractor, Kirkcudbright’s RNLI land rover and Nith Rescue’s launch vehicles and small boat. Portling Coastguard volunteers were also in attendance to talk about coastal safety and the work they do.

Soon afterwards the visiting lifeboats arrived and moored alongside the public pontoon in Kippford. Everyone was able to take the opportunity to have a good look at the different boats and the volunteer crews spent a long time talking about what they do and the equipment on board.

Over £400 was generously donated by members of the public on the day which will be used to help save lives at sea. As a charity the RNLI relies entirely on public funding to operate their fleet of lifeboats from 238 stations across the UK and Ireland.

Lifeboat Operations Manager at Kippford, Gareth Jones, said: ‘We had a fantastic open day again this year. I’d like to extend my thanks to the visiting crews who gave up their time to display their boats and create such a great experience for everyone. I’d also like to thank everyone who volunteers with Kippford RNLI, it’s a big team effort to run these events and plenty of work went into the organisation.’

The event ended with all four lifeboats demonstrating their manouverability in Kippford harbour in front of an enthralled crowd. The speed and ability to turn was evident across all sizes of boat. The crews then headed further out to sea to conduct some joint training whilst they had the opportunity. It was a great chance to practice some of the skills that might be needed if they have to work together on an incident.

Notes to editors

· Kippford Lifeboat Station has been operating since 1966. To learn more about the station go to https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/kippford-lifeboat-station

· Attached photos from the open day

RNLI media contacts

Laura Wilson, Lifeboat Press Officer, 07756 125917, [email protected]

Natasha Bennett, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for Scotland, 07826 900639, [email protected]

Tom McGuire, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for Scotland and Ireland, 00353 87 476 4436, [email protected]

Martin Macnamara, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for Scotland, 07920 365929, [email protected]

RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789

Kippford crew at the open day 2024

RNLI/Laura Wilson

Kippford crew at the open day 2024
Workington lifeboat at Kippford lifeboat open day 2024

RNLI/Laura Wilson

Workington lifeboat at Kippford lifeboat open day 2024
Kirkcudbright lifeboat at Kippford RNLI open day 2024

RNLI/Laura Wilson

Kirkcudbright lifeboat at Kippford RNLI open day 2024
Kippford lifeboat at the open day 2024

RNLI/Laura Wilson

Kippford lifeboat at the open day 2024

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.

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