Kirkcudbright RNLI volunteers need your help

Courageous lifeboat volunteers at Kirkcudbright have been saving lives since 1862. But the current boathouse is one of the oldest RNLI boathouses still in use in Scotland, and, apart from a few modifications, it’s hardly changed since it was built in the 1890s. So the crew are in dire need of better facilities.

The RNLI is a charity and, like all our lifesavers, Kirkcudbright volunteers rely on the generous support of people like you to save lives. By helping to fund the much-needed renovation, you’ll not only be a lifesaver for our Kirkcudbright crew, but for the people who rely on their crucial search and rescue service.

Kirkcudbright's Lifeboat Operations Manager, John Collins, on the impact you could make  

'The main issues for the crew are the cramped, cold and damp conditions. The crew changing room is the only heated space we have. But space is very limited.

‘If it were bigger and there were separate areas for men and women, it would be much easier for the crew to get kitted up. We have a small loft space upstairs with a VHF radio and a kettle, but the loft space isn't heated either. If the crew want a warming cuppa after an exhausting shout we have to hand the cups down the ladder.'

‘It’s my job to keep the lifeboat in good working order. I’ve got a bench with a vice on top and a handheld lamp – that’s it really. If I need fresh air and more light, we open the boathouse doors. When we’re working on the boat in winter, it’s hats and jackets on.

‘The extended station building will give our crew the facilities they deserve. As well as quicker and safer access, there’ll be separate changing facilities and WCs for men and women, a place they can warm up and a dedicated workshop where we can maintain the lifeboat.

‘A kind donation from you will help save lives.’

John Collins BEM
Lifeboat Operations Manager
Kirkcudbright Lifeboat Station

The Kirkcudbright crew rely on a B class Atlantic 85 lifeboat. It has a top speed of 35 knots, making it one of the fastest in the RNLI fleet. That speed is much needed, as the volunteers patrol an area from Southerness Point to the Scare Rocks in what is the third largest river estuary in the UK.

Local tides make conditions dangerous and unpredictable. Salt marshes, sand bars and low-lying rocky outcrops lie in wait for the unwary. Helm Martin Valentine recalls one person caught out: ‘We were called out to rescue a bodyboarder clinging onto an outcrop of rock a few hundred metres offshore. He was 5 miles from our slipway and it was a real fight to get out there.

‘We could see the bodyboarder moving but we didn’t know the extent of his injuries. He couldn’t hear us over the roar of the sea, so we used hand signals to indicate that the Coastguard helicopter was on its way. It was a very quick air evacuation – an instant scoop and away.’

To reach the lifeboat station, crew currently have to drive down a potholed dirt track. By giving to this appeal, you’ll help to fund improved access, enabling volunteers to reach more people like the stranded bodyboarder in time. Your kindness will help save lives.

*Our Kirkcudbright Station Appeal target is £50,000, which will go towards the total £1.2M cost of modernising the lifeboat station. Anything raised over the £1.2M total cost will go towards funding our lifesaving work across the UK and Ireland.