Swanage Lifeboat Station welcomes new inshore lifeboat

The typical operational lifespan of an inshore lifeboat is 10 years and the current Swanage inshore lifeboat successfully continued just beyond this term.

The new lifeboat is funded by a generous donation from the late Mrs Doreen Norgrove who lived in Winchester and died in August 2019. Mrs Norgrove was a long-time supporter of the RNLI along with her husband Roy and she left half of her estate to purchase a lifeboat in memory of her late husband.

Mr & Mrs Norgrove were very involved with the Farnham RNLI Branch and also well known around the Poole site because many years ago Roy used to sell special items donated to the RNLI like jewellery and stamps left to the RNLI in Wills. Roy regularly visited the RNLI in Poole and would sort through all the items received and use his extensive network of specialist contacts to either mend broken items and to sell items to raise vital funds for the RNLI. Roy also ran the RNLI Jewellery Appeal which brought in a fair bit of money for the Institution at the time.

It is therefore a fitting tribute that the Norgrove’s memory and association with the RNLI will live on through the inshore lifeboat that has been generously funded.

The arrival of a new inshore lifeboat at Swanage marks the end of an era of inshore lifeboats funded by the late Phyl and Jack Cleare who started their support Swanage in April 1993 when a relief lifeboat they funded came to Swanage for a trial of having an inshore lifeboat. In the summer of 1995 Swanage received their first station inshore lifeboat D475, this was succeeded by Jack Cleare (D613) in August 2003 and Phyl & Jack (D752) in July 2012.

Phyl and her late husband Jack began supporting the RNLI in the 1980s and became close friends with a number of the crew at Swanage and Weymouth, both stations which they funded inshore lifeboats. Jack sadly passed away suddenly in 2000 but Phyl continued her passionate support of the RNLI, winning the prestigious Individual Support of the Year award at the RNLI’s 2011 Annual Presentation of Awards. Phyl passed away in March 2012 but had made provision for the funding of Swanage’s outgoing inshore lifeboat.

Senior helm Dazzy Tomes said ‘It’s great to have a new ILB. Virtually nothing has changed but there are some small improvements that will make the boat even better.

We’re going to have an open day at the station in the new year to let people come and have a closer look at our new boat.’

We will be holding a naming ceremony will be in 2024.

Notes to Editors

• Photograph of Swanage inshore lifeboats Phyl & Jack (D752), and Roy Norgrove (D884). Credit Jamie Trumper

RNLI volunteer media contact

For more information please telephone Becky Mack, Swanage RNLI Volunteer Press Officer on 07812 558487 or at [email protected]

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.