
Newbiggin RNLI lifeboat station 2024 thanks
The last year for our volunteers has been a busy one not only in our rescues, lives saved and people helped but also in the wider community engagement we do with our supporters, where we are giving back to the community, to thank them for their support to us.
Our call outs for 2024, totalling 17 have saved 7 lives including a persons in the water in darkness after their kayak sunk, an open water swimmer who was dragged out to sea in the surf and an inflatable with a family on board blown out to sea. Other calls included assistance to paddleboarders, fishing boats and yachts all of whom needed a lifeboat to get them home safely.
To do this our crews train regularly in the boathouse and at sea, indeed training successes have been achieved by many of the volunteers. To do this we have engagement and fundraising with the public, with businesses, agencies and local government which begins in the boathouse and then goes out to the wider community, including our dedicated shop team and the fundraising team both of which bring funds to the station. These teams regularly have the boathouse doors open, to meet and greet our supporters showing them around the lifeboat shop as well as the rescue equipment and our extensive display of memorabilia that charts our rich heritage here.
We also mustn’t forget the individuals and groups who use their own ingenuity to raise funds for the lifeboat including sponsorship, events and other initiatives including dedicating their Christmas lights to Newbiggin RNLI for over 20 years, local charity shop support and crafters who knit throughout the year to create gifts for sale and raffle.
There are our water safety and education teams who go out into the community to offer advice and guidance with the goal of prevention or advice on what to do when the unexpected occurs.
Our volunteers are also delivering on improving our environment with community clean ups as part of the Mayday mile and wider RNLI ‘make a difference clean’ at Lynemouth with almost 4 tonnes of plastics and contaminants removed.
In this the 200th year of the RNLI Family and approaching 174 years for Newbiggin, its lifeboat, the dedicated volunteers and our community supporting us goes from strength to strength, we are available to render help and save lives 365 days a year 24 hours per day.
We go into 2025 with the sudden loss of our boathouse manager Tim Martin aged 91 years who has given 68 years of volunteering to help others beginning his time at Newbiggin RNLI during the 1950’s as emergency mechanic and signaller then second mechanic, before going on to be tractor driver, shorecrew, deputy launching authority then boathouse manager. Our flag is at half mast in remembrance of this loss.
John Bryan, Chairman of Newbiggin RNLI said ‘our successes are only possible thanks to the dedication of our volunteers here and we look forward to 2025, our 174th year of our lifeboat station at Newbiggin by the Sea but also remember at this time the loss of our lifeboat family member Tim Martin who gave so much to our station.’
Notes to editors
Newbiggin RNLI is based at Sandridge, Newbiggin by the Sea, Northumberland. The station was established in 1851 and currently operates an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat
' Richard Wake Burdon.'
RNLI Media contacts
For more information please telephone Richard Martin, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer Newbiggin on 07980 010544 or [email protected], Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager, North and East on 07824 518641 or [email protected] or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
If you would like to find out more about Newbiggin lifeboat station, its volunteers and its heritage then please look at the local website.
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.