
Lord Warden presents Littlestone Lifeboat Volunteers with Kings Coronation Medal
On Monday 4th November, Littlestone RNLI welcomed Lord Warden, Admiral Sir George Zambellas and Lady Amanda Zambellas to the lifeboat station to present RNLI volunteer crew with the King Charles III Coronation Medal.
Coronation medals were presented to 4,500 frontline RNLI volunteers and staff, with Littlestone RNLI receiving 17 for volunteers who had 5 years continuous service. The Lord Warden presented medals to 14 of the volunteers at the station on Monday evening as part of an official visit to New Romney. The visiting party of Lord Warden, Admiral Sir George Zamballas and Lady Amanda Zamballas were accompanied by the Town Mayor of New Romney and Lady Mayoress. The Lord Warden is a title going back a thousand years in various formats and was once known as Keeper of the Coast. Through history, illustrious title holders have included Prince, Henry later King Henry VIII , Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
The Lord Warden said: ‘It's a fantastic thing under the direction and guidance of our new King to have the privilege to award you with these medals on behalf of the Government and The Crown.’
Spencer Rolfe, volunteer Launch Authority at Littlestone RNLI, said: “There has been an RNLI station on this site or close by for nearly two hundred years. Littlestone RNLI has played a crucial role in our local seafaring heritage and our volunteers continue that long tradition of being dedicated to saving loves at sea. We are delighted to welcome the Lord Warden to our station to present our proud volunteers with their well-deserved Kings Medals for continuous service.’
The event was very happy and positive with the families of medal recipients also in attendance. It is our families who support crews in carrying out their voluntary life-saving work and we thank them for their help. Members of the fundraising and shop teams were also present to witness what was very much a ‘One Crew’ lifeboat community and family occasion.
Find out how to volunteer at Littlestone RNLI and apply by emailing [email protected]
Find out how to support us:
https://rnli.org/support-us/rnli-200-appeal
Notes for the editor
The commemorative medals were created to honour the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, that took place on 6 May 2023. As well as the Armed Forces, the medal was awarded to members of the Civilian Emergency Services, such as the RNLI, who had completed 5 years’ continuous service, and were in service at the time of the coronation.
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