Burry Port RNLI celebrates lifeboat naming ceremony in 200th anniversary year

Last November Burry Port RNLI’s new D class inshore lifeboat arrived on station, funded by the generous donation of siblings David and Hilary Cole from Bloxwich in the West Midlands.

RNLI naming ceremonies are a longstanding tradition, allowing stations and communities the chance to welcome a new lifeboat into service and celebrate its naming, as well as an opportunity to thank the donors and all their avid supporters.

Roger Bowen, Burry Port RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘We’ve had a busy period welcoming the new lifeboat to our station and volunteer crew, since it arrived just before we kicked off 2024, the RNLI’s special 200^th anniversary year.

‘Yesterday was a brilliant day filled with celebrations at the official naming ceremony and dedication service for the D class inshore lifeboat, the Williams and Cole.

‘The ceremony gave us an important opportunity to say a very heartfelt thank you to brother and sister donors, David and Hilary Cole, who so generously donated to our lifesaving charity funding the next chapter here at Burry Port RNLI.

‘It also gave us a chance to welcome and thank all our supporters, fundraisers and the crew in the local community. This was a special moment in the history books for Burry Port Lifeboat Station.’

Naming ceremonies follow a traditional format, and yesterday saw David Cole handing the lifeboat over to Janet Legrand, RNLI Chair – who accepted it into the care of the RNLI and then onto the care of Burry Port Lifeboat Station.

One of the donors, Hilary Cole said:

‘We first visited Burry Port and its lifeboat station in 2012 for the naming ceremony of the station’s previous lifeboat Diane Hilary, donated by my brother David. This started our ongoing relationship with both the town and the RNLI team and we’ve loved following the station’s lifesaving endeavours.

‘Following the death of a family friend Jean Williams, we were fortunate to receive a very generous bequest and we’re delighted we could fund the new lifeboat to follow on from the Diane Hilary and continuing our warm relationship with Burry Port RNLI.’

The Williams and Cole lifeboat is named in memory of Jean Williams and her father Bill, and David and Hilary’s parents, Kenneth and Unid Cole.

David Cole added:

‘Our father and Bill Williams, Jean’s father, were long time partners in the respected Walsall firm of Williams and Cole Solicitors, now long gone. Without their coming together we would never have met Jean and been able to donate the new lifeboat.’

Following the acceptance, Reverend Roger Morley Jones Station Chaplain led the Service of Dedication. There was singing and then the tradition of pouring champagne over the lifeboats. The ceremony then ended with the Vote of Thanks from Lt. Col David Mathias, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Dyfed and Station Vice President

Janet Legrand, RNLI Chair added:

‘It was a great honour to accept this new D class lifeboat Williams and Cole on behalf of the RNLI and hand it into the care of the station.

‘Ever since 1887, successive generations of lifeboat crews at Burry Port Lifeboat Station have been keeping this stretch of coastline safe using the best lifesaving equipment we can provide. This new lifeboat, built at our Inshore Lifeboat Centre at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, will ensure that lifesaving tradition continues.

'We are indebted to David and Hilary Cole who have so generously funded this lifeboat and have been supporters of the RNLI for many years. The RNLI is delighted to receive this lifeboat into its fleet in memory of their parents Kenneth and Unid Cole, and friend Jean Williams.’

RNLI media contacts

For more information, please contact Claire Fitzpatrick-Smith, Regional Communications Manager on [email protected] or 07977 728 315.

Notes to editors

• Photo + video credits: Hannah Scoular

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.

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