A dad of three who was rescued by St Agnes RNLI has placed a family photo in a time capsule to show what the charity means to him at a finale event in Manchester.
A relay has seen a specially designed time capsule pass from lifeboat to lifeboat, with each RNLI crew given the opportunity to add something before it is put on display for 50 years.
Ben and Hannah Williamson and their three children are a family kept together by the RNLI. Ben was saved when he was taken out to sea on a rip current when he was bodyboarding off Perran Sands while on holiday in Cornwall.
“We’re forever in their debt – we didn’t realise how much they do before this happened.
“The charity and the work they do is so important so we’re really happy to be able to support them in their 200th anniversary.”
St Agnes RNLI came to Ben’s rescue, reuniting him with his wife and children on the beach.
Sophie Wood, RNLI Community Manager said: ”This event is a fantastic way to close our 200th anniversary year in the North West.
“We are commemorating the lifesavers of the past that have contributed to our history, celebrating our crew today, and hopefully inspiring the next generation of supporters, lifeboat volunteers and fundraisers.
“‘For 200 years, we’ve relied on the generosity of everyday people – from seafaring crew to fundraisers and supporters, they’re all lifesavers and make the RNLI in the North West what it is, so this is for them.
“It’s important that we’re connecting our people in this way and collecting mementoes from each station to be sealed away for fifty years, so those crew that we inspire on this journey can look back in 2074 when the charity is 250 years old.”
The capsule will be transported via the lifeboats of the eight stations in Cumbria and Lancashire before travelling on to Albert Dock in Liverpool, where the RNLI’s three Merseyside stations and lifeguards will add their keepsakes to the capsule.
In the capsule will be an RNLI Navigational Chart plotting each leg of the journey to be signed by representatives from each station and the charity’s chief executive, crew tea and coffee lists, and RNLI clothing, among other items. Also included will be a special Notebook for the public to share thoughts, and messages of support, of what the RNLI means to them today.
The journey to Liverpool, and onwards to Salford Quays will be in a Shannon class all-weather lifeboat powered by a biofuel – Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) – supplied free of charge by one of the RNLI’s fuel suppliers, Certas Energy.
The time capsule’s journey has taken 11 days from 28 September until 9 October, to ensure it reached Greater Manchester in time for the anniversary of the world’s first street collection on 10 October.
The first Lifeboat Saturday took place in the streets of Manchester on Saturday, October 10, 1891, a lifeboat was paraded along the cobbles in order to drum up support for the charity following a disaster. Five years earlier, 27 men from Southport and St Anne’s died while trying to rescue sailors from the stricken vessel Mexico.
Following the lifeboat relay, the culmination of Coast to Cobbles will be a new Lifeboat Saturday, with events in Manchester and across the UK.
Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its volunteer crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.
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