£30,000 of new kit on way for lifeboats
SOUTHPORT Offshore Rescue Trust will buy all new life saving equipment after being awarded more than £30,000.
The volunteer run group, also known as Southport Lifeboat, will be able to replace its older equipment thanks to the money as well as buying personal locator beacons (PLBs), personal flotation devices (PFDs) and water rescue helmets for the first time.
The group, which is independent from the RNLI, was awarded the funds by the Department for Transport’s inshore and inland rescue boat grant scheme
It will cover 90% of the cost of new kit to be used by the lifeboat crew, with much of the funds being used to replace equipment which is many years old and near the end of its serviceable life.
Tony D’Arcy Masters, secretary of the Southport Lifeboat said; “We’re absolutely delighted to once again have been awarded with a grant from the Department for Transport.”
“This is the second time that we have benefited from the grant, having received £33,825 in 2016 to pay for half of our inshore lifeboat, the Christopher Taylor.”
The funding scheme has run annually since 2014/15 and gives rescue organisation charities like Southport Lifeboat the opportunity to apply for grants to be used within that year to meet costs of equipment and other items that support rescue operations.
Volunteers are now working to order the equipment from suppliers in time for the fund’s deadline of March 13.
Work also continues on the building of the new lifeboat station and that is expected to be completed later this year after running into delays during 2019.
Keith Porter, trustee and coxswain said; “Safety is paramount for all of our volunteers. The PLBs will mean every crew member on either of the boats will have their own distress beacon that, if activated, will transmit their GPS position to other vessels in the area.
“While we hope that our crew will never need to use these, they would drastically improve the time it would take for a crew member to be found should they ever come into difficulty.
“We have also decided to invest in new flotation devices and helmets which will be used during mud rescues instead of the jackets and helmets worn on the boats which are not designed to be used in mud.
“We are finding problems through routine maintenance caused by the mud so have taken the opportunity with the grant funding to buy some PFDs and helmets that we can use on mud operations instead of the kit we normally wear on the boat.”