Historic occasion for charity's Scarborough branch that saves lives at sea

A ‘date stone’ bearing the year 2016 was put into place today at the construction site of Scarborough Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s new lifeboat station during a ceremony overseen by the charity’s local chairman, Colin Woodhead.

The stone, made by Forticrete, will form part of the front wall on Foreshore Road, next to the main boathouse doors.

Local volunteers and representatives from the charity’s headquarters in Dorset and representatives from the project’s main contractor, BAM Nuttall Ltd, attended the occasion alongside guests of honour Peter, Gay and Oscar Hartley.

The family took part in the ceremony on behalf of Simon Hartley, who bid for the opportunity to dress and lay the date stone in The Yorkshire Post’s Christmas Appeal 2014.

The ‘lot’ was one of the unique prizes for which members of the public could bid. In total £17,000 was raised for the RNLI and the money helped the charity to reach the £200,000 target it needed to part-fund a launch and recovery vehicle for its new Shannon class lifeboat - which is due on station in Scarborough later this year.

Simon was unable to attend the event as he is a member of the RAF Reserve and is currently undertaking a four-month tour.

His father, Peter, said: “As a family we’ve always been passionate supporters of the RNLI. The Gay and Peter Hartley’s Hillards Charitable Trust, which we set up, has had the privilege to provide funds to purchase three inshore lifeboats for Scarborough, one of which, John Wesley Hillard III, is still in service today.

“The RNLI is a marvellous charity manned by volunteers who risk their own lives to save others, often in hazardous conditions.

“Scarborough lifeboat station is an integral part of the community and we were delighted to lay the historic stone, one of the first steps in heralding a new era of lifesaving within the town.”

Mr Woodhead, chairman of Scarborough Lifeboat Station, added: “It was a truly special occasion today and it seemed fitting that Oscar Hartley placed the date stone in the wall. The Hartley family has shown amazing support for Scarborough RNLI over the years and their generosity in bidding to place the stone is simply a continuation of this long standing relationship.

“Thanks must also go to The Yorkshire Post who selected our charity to benefit so generously from their 2014 Christmas Appeal and to everyone who gave such phenomenal support which enabled us to reach the £200,000 needed to provide the final funding for our launch and recovery vehicle for our new Shannon class lifeboat.”