Lifeboat SOS over lack of volunteers

A LIFEBOAT crew is struggling to attract volunteers as the downturn in the oil and gas sector forces people with seafaring skills to relocate to find work.

Tens of thousands of North Sea jobs have been lost since oil prices plunged two years ago.

Calum Reed, the only full time RNLI member based at Aberdeen’s Waterloo Quay, said this is affecting the service.

The 30-year-old mechanic added: ‘There is quite a turnaround in people in Aberdeen. In coastal areas people who have lived there all their life normally join the lifeboat team but we are quite different here.

‘We have seen changes in people’s circumstances where they may have had to move around or get a different job which had led to us losing volunteers if their employers can’t let them leave. We have seen these changes since the downturn in oil and gas.’

The Aberdeen crew currently has around 18 members. A recruitment drive has been launched to boost the number of volunteers to help deal with an average of 40 call-outs a year.

Volunteers must be aged over 17, live in the city and have permission from their employer to leave for call-outs at short notice. Further details are available on the RNLI website.