Lifeboat base brings tear to mother’s eye
ATRAGIC death at sea led one brave mum to make it her life’s ambition to reopen and rebuild the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust (Southport Lifeboat).
Geoff Clements was fishing off the coast of Southport with his friends when he died in 1987.
Geoff’s tragic loss spurred his mum, Kath Wilson, to form Southport Lifeboat in 1988.
More than 30 years on, the service provides vital assistance across the Sefton coastline, with the charity even assisting the Royal Navy in disposing of a bomb off the Formby coast last year.
Last week the charity celebrated the opening of its new £1.4million lifeboat station, paid for almost entirely from funds donated by members of the public.
The opening comes after 20 years of fundraising and planning, as well as three and a half years of construction, as the crew began moving equipment over to the new base on New Year’s Day.
Kath said: “I can’t believe how wonderful it looks. I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am to see it finally open; it brought a tear to my eye.”
It all began in 2005 when Kath opened the Southport Lifeboat charity shop in Birkdale which has raised funds for the new station ever since.
She said: “We’ve had some hard times over the past 30 or so years, but we’ve got there. This building is for the people of Southport.
“It’s for everyone who has donated, bought something in the shop, played LifeboatLotto, volunteered for the charity or helped in any way, shape or form.”
Southport Lifeboat is run entirely by volunteers and is independent of the RNLI and the Coastguard.
Alan Porter, chairman of the board of trustee directors at the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, said: “We would like to thank the people of
Southport, the surrounding areas, and further afield for their support, without whom this fabulous achievement would not be possible.
“There’s still plenty of work to do in furnishing the inside, but we became operational from the building on New Year’s Day and responded to our first incident from there on January 2.
“Within the station, our crew have access to a range of rooms designed specifically for training and maintenance. A separate workshop will allow our crew to look after their kit, whilst kitchen, shower and changing room facilities provide much-needed amenities.”
He continued: “The lookout tower on the seaward side... offers incredible views of the coast and will act as an operations control room.”
One of the founding members of the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, John Shawcroft, said: “The old boathouse served us well for three decades. It is full of history and its walls could tell many stories, but sadly, it was outdated, cold, damp and we outgrew it many years ago.
“We want this space to be a home for our crew.”
The volunteers are now in the process of furnishing the inside of the building before it is ready to be opened to the public later in the year at a series of open days.