Lifeboat volunteers sail off with awards
RNLI volunteers from Oban and Tobermory have been recognised with Excellence in Volunteering Awards.
Oban lifeboat's deputy coxswains and press officers received awards in recognition of their invaluable service to Oban lifeboat station.
Mark Scott, Finlo Cottier, David Isaac and James Hardie were recognised for their dedication to the station and received certificates from the RNLI's chairman and council recording their ‘sincere thanks' for ‘giving time to help provide full-time coxswain cover at the station' and for their ‘commitment and leadership'.
Both the station's press officers, Iain Fulton and Leonie Mead, also received Excellence in Volunteering Awards for their ‘invaluable support'.
The RNLI's prestigious Excellence in Volunteering Awards recognise staff and volunteers who have gone above and beyond what is expected of them.
Tobermory lifeboat station received an Excellence in Volunteering Award recognising the crew's ‘invaluable service to the institution'.
The citation went on to state that ‘with a committed management team and crew fully engaged in all aspects of the station, your focused team efforts, camaraderie and professionalism are greatly appreciated'.
Tobermory RNLI coxswain David McHaffie said: ‘The awards to the station recognise the hard work of everyone involved, particularly our volunteers who give up so much of their free time for training, carrying out rescues and helping to make the station run effectively and efficiently. I'm pleased some partners of the crew could attend the celebratory dinner in Edinburgh as we couldn't operate without the support of our families and friends.'
Some crew members also attended a dinner at the Playfair Library in Edinburgh on the evening of Saturday November 16, hosted by RNLI chairman Stuart Popham and Scottish chairman Roger Lockwood.