RNLI Lerwick volunteers to attend garden party at Buckingham Palace
Two volunteers from Lerwick Lifeboat station with 50 years of service between them will attend a special garden party at Buckingham Palace later this week, to mark 200 years of saving lives at sea.
Attending the event on behalf of RNLI Lerwick will be two long-serving volunteers Malcolm Craigie and John Drummond.
Malcolm joined Lerwick lifeboat in 1987 and served as a crew member until 2000. He then became a Deputy Launch Authority in 2006, with responsibility to page the lifeboat crew to launch, before taking on his current role in 2008 as Lifeboat Operations Manager. Malcolm has recently been awarded his 30-year RNLI Long Service Medal.
John Drummond has been a member of the Lerwick lifeboat crew since 2002 and is currently the longest serving 2nd Mechanic on the crew. His service has recently been recognised with his 20-year RNLI Long Service Medal.
The RNLI 200th Anniversary Garden Party will be held by HRH The Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and HRH The Duke of Kent on Thursday, 23 May.
The garden party will bring together around 2,500 of the RNLI’s long-serving volunteers, staff and their families and will also feature an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat in the palace grounds.
John Webster, Chair of RNLI Lerwick Branch, recently presented their long service medals: “Malcolm and John have given over 50-years of dedicated service as volunteers to RNLI Lerwick and they’re both very deserving of their long service awards. I’m sure they’ll enjoy the Garden Party at Buckingham Palace to mark the RNLI’s 200th Anniversary of saving lives at sea.”
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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