A TOAST TO LIFE SAVERS
ACTION STATIONS: ARCHBISHOP AT VESSEL’S DEDICATION
Champagne was splashed across the bow of Scarborough’s new Shannon-class lifeboat as it was named in front of hundreds of supporters. The Duke of Kent, who is president of the RNLI, officially opened the lifeboat station, in Foreshore Road.
For all of you who take risks and are there to save our lives, thank you Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
HUNDREDS OF supporters were joined by Royalty to witness the official naming of Scarborough’s new lifeboat.
Champagne was splashed across the front of the new Shannon-class boat as the Duke of Kent, the president of the RNLI, named the vessel after Frederick William Plaxton, the founder of the town’s famous bus and coach building business.
A quarter of a century after the last lifeboat was named in Scarborough, the Duke also officially opened the new station in Foreshore Road.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who led a service of dedication, said: “For all of you who take risks and are there to save our lives, you need a lot of trust, a lot of confidence in your fellow men and women, and for your courage and your faithfulness, I want to say thank you.”
Maurice Mason, a trustee of the FW Plaxton Charitable Trust, handed over the lifeboat to RNLI trustee Mark Byford, who accepted the vessel on behalf of the organsation and handed it into the care of the lifeboat station. The trust was set up following the death of Frederick Eric Plaxton, in memory of his father.
The new Shannon lifeboat came into service on December 19 last year. The launch and recovery system, The Cairns, has been named in honour of Esther Cairns, whose legacy funded it, along with a local fundraising appeal.
Heath Samples, RNLI navigator at Scarborough, said: “This day has been two or three years in the making and to have named the boat is a fantastic effort for everyone involved.”