Representatives from Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat station have become the latest group to take part in the RNLI’s ‘Connecting our Communities’ relay-style event.
To mark the charity’s 200th anniversary in 2024, a scroll bearing the RNLI pledge is travelling around the RNLI network in Ireland the UK. It’s being passed through RNLI communities – lifeboat stations, lifeguard units and fundraising branches – around the UK and Ireland and being signed by representatives at each location on its route.
The pledge reads: ‘Whoever we are, wherever we are from, we are one crew, ready to save lives. We’re powered by passion, talent and kindness, like generations of selfless lifesavers before us. This is our watch, we lead the way, valuing each other, trusting each other, depending on one another, volunteering to face the storm together. Knowing that, with courage, nothing is impossible. That is what has always driven us to save every one we can. It’s what makes every one of us a lifesaver.’
Beneath the pledge, printed in seven languages (English, Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Manx, and Cornish), it says: ‘Signed in 2024 by representatives of the RNLI’s lifesaving communities, on behalf of all who strive to save every one.’
At Lough Derg RNLI today, the scroll was signed by Niamh McCutcheon, Chairperson of Lough Derg RNLI Fundraising Committee, a member of the RNLI Council, Ireland and an RNLI Vice-President, and Peter Kennedy, one of the Station Mechanics at Lough Derg RNLI. Niamh has been a volunteer with the RNLI for over 40 years, Peter has been a volunteer with Lough Derg RNLI since 2012.
Peter Kennedy, Station Mechanic says: “Over the course of seven months, the five-metre-long scroll will pass through 240 RNLI locations around the UK and Ireland before finishing its journey in October at Douglas on the Isle of Man, which was home to the RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary. By this time it will carry around 700 signatures including mine and Niamh’s from Lough Derg RNLI. The scroll will become part of the charity’s history and a significant snapshot of the charity as it stands at 200 years old. We are delighted to play our part.”
Niamh McCutcheon, Chairperson of Lough Derg RNLI Fundraising Committee, a member of the RNLI Council, Ireland and an RNLI Vice-President says:
“We are privileged to be able to participate in the RNLI’s 200th Anniversary Scroll Relay. The scroll has been made bespoke, involving RNLI craftspeople and using materials of significance to the charity. The wooden handle has been made by a carpenter from the RNLI’s All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole (where the charity builds and maintains its all-weather lifeboats), using wood from an old flagpole from Ramsey lifeboat station on the Isle of Man.
Apprentices from the RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat Centre on the Isle of Wight have made the protective fibreglass casing and set the scroll spindles and accessories into the case. The scroll began its journey on Monday 4 March 2024, at a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to mark the charity’s official 200th anniversary, from where it began its relay to lifeboat stations.”
Ford provided an All-Electric E-Transit van in which Chris Smith, RNLI staff member, is transporting the scroll on its journey. We were delighted to welcome Chris to Lough Derg RNLI today.
When the seven-month-long journey is complete, the scroll will be displayed in the RNLI College in Poole, where the charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards are trained.
Founded on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has been saving lives at sea for 200 years. Since the charity was founded, it’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
*Have a listen to this episode of Clare FM’s Atlantic Tales that featured the RNLI stations at Kilrush, Lough Derg and Galway.