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High Sheriff presents inaugural Maritime Volunteers Award to Cowes RNLI Station

Lifeboats News Release

On Thursday 30th January 2025, the High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, Graham Biss, attended Cowes RNLI Station to present its Lifeboat Operations Manager, Mark Southwell, with the first ever Maritime Volunteers Award.

Left to right: Jeremy Dale, Mark Southwell and Graham Bliss, holding the High Sherriff’s Maritime Volunteers Award 2024

RNLI/Sofia Voudouroglou

Announced in October 2024, The High Sherriff’s Maritime Volunteers Award is designed to recognise the tremendous contribution made by volunteers in the maritime sector. The award will be awarded annually to an individual volunteer who has demonstrated, over a number of years, exceptional service in the maritime sector through rescue services or and sailing clubs. Jeremy Dale, Managing Director at SeaSafe Systems Ltd, who sponsor the award, also attended the event.

Mark Southwell was nominated for the award by Hugh Robotham, who has been closely involved with the independent and subsequently the RNLI lifeboat in Cowes since 1988, and Captain John Kidd, Cowes Harbour Master.

Mark has held the position of Lifeboat Operations Manager at Cowes Lifeboat Station since the RNLI took over from the Cowes Independent Lifeboat in 2008. Mark managed the transition from independent lifeboat to the RNLI, and the move to the new premises on Cowes Parade, which was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 2012.

Before this, he was the last full time Customs Officer on the Isle of Wight, based in the building which is now the lifeboat station.

Outside the RNLI, Mark is a member of the Island Sailing Club, where he acts as race safety officer, and is part of the organising teams for Cowes Week and many other major sailing events held in Cowes.

Graham Biss, High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, presented Mark with the award in a ceremony attended by the station’s crew and operational team. Speaking to the station’s volunteers, the High Sheriff recognised Mark’s exceptional service in the maritime sector and his achievements at Cowes RNLI Station. He said:

“The 11 fantastic applications we received for the first ever Maritime Volunteer Award truly reflect the strength and the depth of the voluntary and maritime sectors. I am delighted to announce Mark Southwell as the winner of the 2024 High Sheriff Maritime Volunteer Award.”

Alongside the award, Mark received a commemorative pin, one of only 50, depicting Henry Freeman, the sole survivor of the capsizing of Whitby lifeboat in 1861 during a rescue attempt.

Under Mark Southwell’s leadership, since 2008, Cowes RNLI Station has grown into a fully operational station with 55 volunteer crew, a water safety team and a visits team. The station offers a 24 hour service, 7 days a week for 365 days a year to fulfil the RNLI mission – to ‘Save Everyone’.


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For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer 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 142,700 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.


About Cowes RNLI Station

Cowes Lifeboat Station is converted from a former HM Customs Watch House, the rear of which is 300 years old. It looks out onto one of the world’s busiest shipping waterways and carries out a range of interesting services every year. It is the only station to be opened by Queen Elizabeth II.


Mark and the High Sheriff, Graham Bliss, holding the award

RNLI/Sofia Voudouroglou

The inaugural Maritime Volunteers Award

RNLI/Sofia Voudouroglou

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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