#OneCrew in Action: Inclusive recruitment at stations

In our '#OneCrew in Action' series, we're sharing stories from across the RNLI about how people are promoting and supporting inclusion through small changes and new approaches.

Laura Wedgewood from Redcar organised a positive action event - an open evening for volunteers from underrepresented groups. The team talked about life as a crew member, the trainee journey, training opportunities and life at Redcar.

Dunbar Lifeboat Station held and open evening for women interested in the RNLI. With support from their volunteer manager, they featured women from various roles talking about what volunteering involves, what it means to them, and how they manage to fit it into their lives.

#OneCrew in Action at Redcar and Dunbar

Tell us a little about yourself.

Laura: I’m a 34-year-old registered manager of a children’s home in Redcar. I grew up in Redcar but moved away to Sheffield for 9 years in my early 20s. 

I’ve always had a passion for helping people and in early life I thought I would join an emergency service, though my career in children’s social care steered me away from that.

Ian: My first career was 25 years in financial services, followed by a second managing health and safety for a group of fish farms. Alongside the main jobs I ran my own training business, teaching people to drive boats (I have been an RYA instructor for over 50 years). I have three grown up children, two grandchildren, and two goldfish.

How long have you been a volunteer with the RNLI? 

Laura: I initially started going down to the station in October 2021 and was officially enrolled in April 2022. 

Ian: Since 1978 when I joined the crew at Aberdovey. Since then, I’ve had a number of roles (crew, helm, water safety, training, launch authority, and lifeboat operations manager) at North Berwick, Oban, and Dunbar. Loved it all!

Why did you decide to volunteer? 

Laura: On my return to Redcar, I wanted to do something to give back to the community that I grew up in. I’ve always admired the work of the RNLI and remember stories of ‘lifeboat men’ from Redcar from my childhood. 

Ian: I was born and grew up on the coast in Cornwall, with family from the Isles of Scilly, and I have always had an interest in lifeboats. My first job after qualifying as a PE teacher was as an instructor at the Outward Bound Sea School at Aberdovey. The staff there formed the Mountain Rescue team and most of the lifeboat crew, and I was delighted to join them as a member of both of those fantastic teams.

Inclusion is important to us at the RNLI, what does it mean to you? 

Laura: When I joined the station, there were no female role models and all of the stories I had heard in my childhood were of lifeboat men. I wanted to push myself to be a role model for future generations. 

Ian: For me it’s many things: on an individual level it’s making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and contribute; and on a team level it’s about balance in the team and having the best people with the strongest skills and knowledge working well together. Sometimes to get there means removing obstacles or giving assistance so that everyone has a fair chance. I like the message of this cartoon … Stating the obvious, I suppose, but it’s also about removing exclusion, whether that was intentional or accidental.

Why did you want to change the way you approached recruitment?

Laura: I remember the feeling of walking into the crew room on my first training session. Walking into a room with 25+ men, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to prove my capability to belong. Shortly after I received my pager we were returning from a shout and a little girl shouted to her mum: ‘Look, there is a lifeboat lady!’ And she wanted her picture taken with me. I can remember thinking I hoped she never walked into a room feeling like I did, and if she did, she wouldn’t let it stop her!

Ian: Because it wasn’t delivering the results that we hoped for. We weren’t having a problem getting numbers, but they weren’t representative of the broader community and my suspicion was that somewhere in the process or in people’s perceptions, there were hidden barriers that were somehow limiting who was applying. Principally it appeared that women, even though interested, seemed less likely to approach us to ask about volunteer opportunities or to make applications to join.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you have been approaching inclusion in your recruitment? How have you made sure that everyone feels welcome? 

Laura: I think the first thing was to embed myself into our RNLI family, as each crew member does. I had to push myself to achieve all competencies. This changed the way those who were on station looked at things. Then I made suggestions around bringing more transferable skills to the station and, thankfully, the team backed me. I organised an event specifically aimed at underrepresented groups, which has led to the recruitment of another female crew member, who has come in and absolutely hit the ground running (or water swimming). 

Ian: We took the existing process – which was effective for the groups where it clearly did have traction – and decided simply to add some new elements that we hoped would appeal to the groups where we suspected the hidden barriers were. Our latest round of recruitment targeted women. In future we may take a similar approach to make it easier for young people to come and talk to us, as that seems to be another area where we struggle more to break down perceived barriers and pre-conceptions.

Our flank station came along to help out at our open evening, which was great as another element of inclusivity. There was no fixed agenda, mainly a chance to look around, see the kit, ask questions, and generally get a feel for what it was all about. There was ‘women only’ time provided during the 2-hour event in case any of our visitors would have felt more comfortable raising any questions or concerns without men there.

It was important that existing crew recognised the reasons for this approach, which might have been misunderstood, but Dunbar has had women in the crew for decades and it is widely appreciated that it has been beneficial, and a crew with a broader mix is a better crew.

What has been the biggest change you have seen since you took this approach? 

Laura: The change was immediate; bringing the crew with me on the journey meant that when our newest crew member walked into her first training session, she felt wholly included and respected as part of the team. 

Ian: It’s still too early to say if it was a success. The initial outcome was every bit as good as we hoped it would be. The attendance at the open evening was great, and everyone took away application forms which have been coming back in. But the real work starts now. We want to monitor the results and learn from our experience. How long do new crew stay with us? Is that different for men and women? Why do they leave? What can we do to make it easier for them to stay? How do we share ideas that work?

How have the changes you made impacted other people? 

Laura: I think they have and I definitely hope they have. The crew definitely have changed the way they look at things. I have been fully supported by all of my crew, some of whom might not have thought at first that I would be successful, who have now supported me to become the first navigator passed out under OCF and are hopeful that I will be able to progress further. The crew are positive about changes and bringing other people on board, regardless of gender and sexual orientation. 

We collected feedback from the event and it was great to see the impact we had had on others:

‘I think when you picture the RNLI you imagine burly men on boats but it was really nice to see so many women host and attend! The event really cemented my desire to volunteer with the RNLI.’

‘I was not sure previously that the RNLI would want women over 50 years of age to apply, even though we have a lot of life experience and skills to offer!’

Ian: Superficially, the biggest impacts have been, firstly that I’m afraid we’ve created extra work for the RNLI staff and managers involved in recruitment, and I’d like to express my thanks for their time and input! Secondly, the very positive support that has been offered from everyone. Ideas, suggestions, and support have come in from contacts and friends at stations around the UK, and I hope that what we’ve tried will provide some good ideas that others can benefit from.

What would your top tips be for other people to consider inclusion in their role? 

Laura: Target specific groups to best represent the communities you serve. Be open about your experiences and receptive to the experiences of others and try to build something around those experiences. Plan ahead, know who you want to target and make something happen. It doesn’t have to be particularly big or bold. 

Ian: Take a good honest look at what you’ve already got. Does it feel as if it’s the very best mix you could get? If not, ask yourself and others what is missing, and why might that be? There is plenty of help and support available – use it, don’t try to do it all by yourself (which would be a bit ironic when you’re aiming for inclusion wouldn’t it?). Be prepared to wander outside your comfort zone if you need to.

Consider these sayings:

‘If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.’

If you want a different outcome, you’ll need to change. Change can be uncomfortable, but keep focussing on what you want to achieve to remind yourself that any pain is worth it.

What do you think the RNLI should focus on in terms of inclusion? 

Laura: I largely focussed on creating a forum for women and members of the LGBT community to understand more about what it takes to be part of the crew. It would be good to see similar opportunities for other underrepresented groups. 

Ian: I think the RNLI is pretty well advanced in inclusion for salaried staff, at all levels including Heads of Region and the Executive Team – and deserves recognition and credit for that. Support for Women in SAR and the Women’s Community are excellent. I think where inclusion may need some extra support is more at the local level, and training for Lifeboat Management Groups and Operational Management Teams to recognise where they could become more effective.

What do you have planned next?

Laura: Our event was probably boat crew biased. I would love to create an opportunity for other operational roles. I was hoping to tailor an event for launch vehicle drivers too. It would be great for Redcar to also look at other underrepresented groups. 

Ian: Our immediate focus and efforts will be on integrating and training a new cadre of recruits. Then we need to consider how we retain them and build greater and stronger levels of valuable experience and expertise. Alongside that we will be looking at other areas where we may need to add some positive help to find and remove what may be perceived as barriers to joining this fabulous organisation that has been a part of my life for so long and I want to share with others.

#OneCrew in Action needs you

Huge thanks to Laura and Ian for sharing their stories and approaches to considering inclusion as part of their recruitment.

We already have a few of these stories to share, but would love to have more. So please get in touch if you would like to share your approaches to inclusion and encourage others to consider similar changes which can have a positive impact.