The boss of Morecambe RNLI has been reflecting on 2022, a year he describes as one of ‘amazing achievements’.
It was another busy year for the crew, as they responded to 56 ‘shouts’, saving seven lives, rescuing 24 people, as well as undertaking 67 afloat exercises.
This year they were even called to service on Christmas Day, as the crew faced severe weather conditions within Morecambe Bay on a long search in challenging conditions.
Volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager, Steve Wilson, said: “I wanted to ponder over the exceptional commitment, dedication and kindness that has occurred over the last 12 months at Morecambe RNLI.
‘’There have been many amazing achievements within 2022.
‘'Our two RNLI shops are doing extremely well and we wanted to thank all the volunteers who commit so much time and effort. A special thank you to both Jennifer and Colin who manage the shops and volunteers so well, we can’t wait for 2023.
‘’All of the collection boxes and legacies are managed by Chris and Les, this is a big job and it is very much appreciated by all. Behind the scenes, Lesley manages the stations finances so efficiently, which is not an easy task and we are very thankful. Overall, this is a fantastic achievement and really shows we cannot save lives without them all.
‘’Helen has done a fantastic job creating and developing our water safety team along with Wayne and Jan in parallel to their operational commitments.
‘’Colin has done a fantastic job of maintaining our health and safety standards along with being there to let contractors in and out, directing them on where they need to be and always being flexible. All this in addition to managing the hovercraft shop.
‘’Conor progressed well this year achieving a leadership role as a Helm and an active member of the Op’s team. None of this would have been possible without support from all the helms and many of the volunteer crew members.
‘’Adam has progressed well and is aiming for his commander pass out in the New Year. This was also not possible without the commanders support and volunteer crew members.
‘’Santa visited us on the River Lune for the first time this year and I hope this becomes an annual event, albeit he may want to visit new locations each year.
‘’Our open day during the summer was a great success providing more donations to the RNLI. To all the public, performers and volunteer, thank you.
‘’Two people who quietly beaver away in the background are our station mechanics, Ross and Trev. They keep our vessels afloat and ready to go, many a time if you drive past either station you will see the lights on and either Trev or Ross hard at work.
‘’James, Chris W, Marcus and Danny have kept us compliant despite these challenges with OFC, I trust next year we will see some progress with this.
‘’Amy and Chris S are two more unsung heroes who are both reactive and proactive in maintaining our profile in the media.
‘’Martyn and Chris B have run recruitment campaigns this year despite being at opposite ends of the world attracting new volunteers. Thank you.
‘’We’ve had a few new volunteers this year and three more recently joined the ranks.
‘’Finally, as a crew, we would like to thank the public for their support. Morecambe and the surrounding areas have always been very supportive of our volunteers and we are very thankful for this. Without legacies, donations and fundraising we would not be able to maintain a rescue service across Morecambe Bay.
‘’We would also like to thank all our volunteer crew members families, without their support we couldn’t do what we do.’’
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