Lifeboat volunteers launch £200,000 appeal to help save lives in peril at sea

Lifeboat crew members Dave Jackson,Tom Clark (coxswain) Will Cammish, George Willow and Steve Bramham. Picture by Gerard Binks

In 2015, Scarborough’s current all-weather Mersey class lifeboat Fanny Victoria Wilkinson and Frank Stubbs, will be nearing the end of her life on the high seas and is set to be replaced by the newest member of the RNLI fleet, a Shannon class lifeboat. Now the RNLI needs to raise £200,000 towards the cost of a bespoke launch and recovery vehicle for its new lifeboat.

Scarborough will be one of the first of the charity’s lifeboat stations to receive a Shannon, but without the state-of-the-art launch and recovery Supacat vehicle, the volunteer crew  won’t be able to launch on rescues.

Tom Clark, Scarborough Coxswain said: “We’ll miss our Mersey class lifeboat when she goes but we’re excited about receiving a Shannon, whose advanced technology means we’ll be able to reach people in trouble at sea a lot more quickly than we can at the moment.

“We know £200,000 is a lot of money to raise so we’re really hoping the people of Yorkshire will get behind the appeal and help us reach our target.”

The fundraising appeal will launch during the Honda GoldWing Motorcycle Event on Saturday. Activities will begin at 10am with a display of GoldWing motorcycles outside Scarborough RNLI Lifeboat Station, concluding with the GoldWing Light Parade which will start in the town at 8pm.

Hannah Jackson, RNLI Community Fundraising Manager said: “Our volunteers will be at the lifeboat station on Saturday and we’d love people to come along to find out how they can get involved in the appeal or share any innovative fundraising ideas.”

Scarborough RNLI’s £2m Shannon class lifeboat will be funded by a legacy from Frederic William Plaxton, former chairman of Scarborough-based coach building firm Plaxton.

The Shannon is designed to be mostly launched and recovered from a beach, but without the right launching equipment, this is impossible.

The total cost of the Supacat launch and recovery vehicle is £1.5m. Scarborough RNLI’s Supacat will be part-funded by two separate legacies. The  RNLI hopes that the appeal  will raise the remaining  £200,000.