RNLI 200 Connecting our Communities Scroll reaches Littlestone RNLI
The RNLI 200 ‘Connecting our Communities’ scroll relay visited Littlestone RNLI on Wednesday afternoon
Littlestone RNLI today welcomed the 200th Anniversary “Connecting our Communities” scroll to our volunteer lifeboat station. The scroll is inscribed with the RNLI One Crew pledge, promising the institutions commitment to saving every one we can, without judgment and staying true to Sir William Hillary’s vision when he founded the charity in 1824.
Signing the scroll on behalf of the operational side of the station was senior Helm Peter Leigh, our Lifeboat Operations Manager Matt Crittenden and his wife, our first female Helm, Heather Crittenden.
Peter, who has been on the crew at Littlestone since 1989 and initially crewed with his father Pat who joined Littlestone RNLI in 1967, said “I am deeply honoured to represent Littlestone in this, the 200th anniversary year for the RNLI by signing the scroll on behalf of our station.”
Matt Crittenden said “We are signing this historic document on behalf of the whole RNLI family, especially all those here at Littlestone. Everyone who volunteers at the station and all our local supporters are part of this 200th celebration. The RNLI couldn’t do what it does without them.”
Heather Crittenden, joined Littlestone RNLI in 2011 and has been a helm on the charity lifeboat Jean McIvor since 2020. Heather added “I’m honoured to sign the scroll on behalf of all the crew including the fundraisers, supporters and shop staff at the station.”
The scroll has been made by RNLI craftspeople and apprentices using materials of significance to the charity. A carpenter from the RNLI’s All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole made the handle, using wood from a 19th Century flagpole from Ramsey lifeboat station on the Isle of Man. The RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat Centre on the Isle of Wight made the protective fibreglass casing and set the scroll spindles and accessories into the case.
The scroll arrived at Littlestone onboard the all electric Ford E-Transit specially provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of linking the RNLI communities during the relay. It will travel through every RNLI region and country throughout the year having started its journey at the ‘Service of Thanksgiving’ at Westminster Abbey last Monday and it will continue travelling until October 2024, when it will end its journey in Douglas, Isle of Man, the former home of Sir William Hillary.
Notes to editors
A Lifeboat Station was established on the Romney Marsh Coast by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1826. The name and location of the Littlestone station has changed several times over almost 200 years but the volunteer crews over all those years have had the same purpose; to save lives at sea. Our crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast and cover the area between Folkestone to the east, through to Dungeness to the west. The flanking stations to Littlestone RNLI are Dungeness RNLI and Dover RNLI and these stations keep watch over the busiest shipping lane in the World.
The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Jean McIvor. The boat is named after Jean McIvor, who left the RNLI a generous legacy of £600,000 which paid for the new boat and will help run the station. Mrs McIvor, from Middlesex, died in October 2017 and was a radar operator for the Women's Royal Air Force during the Second World War and also the River Thames Punting Champion from 1947-50.
RNLI media contacts
- John Kenny, Lifeboat Press Officer, Littlestone Lifeboat Station on 07747 033443 john[email protected]
- Julie Rainey, RNLI Regional Communications Lead on 07827 358256 [email protected]
- Hatti Mellor, RNLI Regional Communications Manager (London/East/South East) on 07724 801305 [email protected]
· For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789 or [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.
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