40 years Saving Lives at Sea for Redcar RNLI’s Mike Picknett

Mike first started helping at the lifeboat station as an 11-year-old. He officially joined the crew in 1985, aged 17 and progressed quickly to become a Helm at the station in 1987. He was appointed Senior Helm at Redcar RNLI in1992, a post he held until he stepped back from his seagoing role to become Lifeboat Operations Manager in 2019.

During Mike’s operational time, he spent more than 10 years as a member of the RNLI’s national and international Flood Rescue teams. Mike was deployed to several major flooding events including the devastating flooding in Cockermouth in 2009 where RNLI teams worked continuously for 48 hours, helping to rescue people from their homes and businesses.

In 2013 Mike was awarded a BEM in Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year's Honours for services to maritime safety.

Dave Cocks, Chairman of Redcar RNLI, said: 'Mike has given 40 years dedication to Redcar RNLI. His contribution to saving lives at sea is a perfect example of what the RNLI is all about. The RNLI can only achieve its mission to save people from harm in the waters round our coast by having volunteers like Mike, who give countless hours of their time, day and night, to make sure the lifeboats launch when they are called for.'

Notes to Editors

Redcar lifeboat station has been operating since 1802.

Redcar currently operates a B-class lifeboat named Leicester Challenge III, paid for by the people of Leicester, and an IB1-class lifeboat named Eileen May Loach-Thomas, paid from the legacy of the late Mr Nick Thomas of Shropshire.

RNLI Media contacts

For more information, please contact Andy Watson, Lifeboat Press Officer, Redcar RNLI on 07954 435834 or 01642 484491 or email [email protected]

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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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