
Australian Coastguard Commander visits Lyme Regis RNLI
Volunteers from Lyme Regis RNLI had a visit during their Sunday (13 Oct) morning training session from Simon Prior, the Commander of the Australian Coastguard Unit based at Carrum, near Melbourne in Victoria.
Simon Prior is the Commander of the VF-7 unit and combines the twin roles of skipper of the unit’s two vessels with the administrative duties involved in managing a station with 60 volunteer lifeboat crew. His is a busy Coastguard unit and responds to between 80 and 100 service calls per year.
During his visit to Lyme Regis lifeboat station Simon was able to witness the launch of the station’s Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Spirit of Loch Fyne and discuss training and casualty care aspects with RNLI volunteers. He gave a short presentation of the work of his unit and compared funding regimes. In Australia his station is manned by volunteers but is funded by local government. In the UK the RNLI is a charity and is funded entirely by public donations and subscriptions.
Simon is in the UK to meet up with family, and returned to Lyme Regis where his family owned a house on Marine Parade during the 1970’s and 1980’s. This is where Simon spent his boyhood holidays and where he developed a keen interest in maritime rescue through watching the Lyme Regis RNLI volunteers operate and train.
Summing up his visit to Lyme Regis Simon said; ‘I have followed the work of Lyme Regis RNLI and other stations on the BBC TV series Saving Lives at Sea but it was good to meet the volunteers involved and to see the equipment they use. There are many differences in the way the RNLI and my service train and operate but there is also a great deal of commonality. What is the same is the professionalism of our volunteers and the rewards we all get in bringing someone safely home. As a boy I had the great fortune in being allowed a trip on the Lyme Regis lifeboat and this was undoubtedly a factor in making me want to join the Coastguard in later life.’
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Notes to editors
Phot 1. Caption: Simon Prior with Lyme Regis RNLI volunteers.
Photo credits: RNLI/Nick Marks
RNLI media contacts
For more information, please contact Nick Marks, volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer at Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station on 07568 187582 or [email protected], or Emma Haines, Regional Communications Manager, on 07786 668847 or [email protected], or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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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