A free event to help celebrate the RNLI’s 200th anniversary will be held in Whitehaven this month.
Join Workington RNLI and a host of other emergency services on the harbourside on Saturday, July 27, as they showcase their work.
Lifeboat displays and an exhibition charting the history of local lifeboat stations are among the highlights of the event, which runs from 1pm to 4.30pm.
There will also be entertainment from sea shanty group Nobody’s Friends and tours will be available of Workington RNLI’s all weather lifeboat Dorothy May White, which was bought with help from the community.
It is also an opportunity to meet the volunteer crew and find out more about what it takes to be a part of the charity.
Workington RNLI and St Bees RNLI will be showing off their skills in a display in the harbour.
Other organisations attending include the Coastguard, Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team and Maryport Rescue.
There will also be an opportunity to find out how to stay safe around water this summer with Workington RNLI’s water safety officer.
An exhibition of memorabilia from the area’s RNLI history, curated by Bob McLaughlin, chairman of Workington RNLI, which will be held in the Beacon Portal.
Tim Chittenden, Workington RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: “We wanted to take this opportunity to mark the 200th anniversary of the RNLI and celebrate our colleagues who are part of other volunteer emergency services.
“We are looking forward to welcoming as many people as possible to our event, and showing the capabilities of what our volunteers and boats can do.”
The county has been part of the RNLI from the very start. In 1866 the charity, known as the Royal National Lifeboat Institute since 1854, took over the Whitehaven Lifeboat and started a continuous series of RNLI all-weather lifeboats on this coast which has lasted to the present day.
The duty has passed between Whitehaven (total 59 years), Maryport (total 83 years), and Workington (total 95 years) and still counting.
In 2023, Workington’s volunteer crew responded to 21 callouts off the west coast.
The event takes place on Saturday, July 27, from 1pm to 4pm.
