Chiswick RNLI Lifeboat Crew Meets University Boat Race Teams

Volunteers educate rowers new to the river on dangers of the tideway

lifeboat team with rowers

Related Links

Show Your Support For Chiswick Lifeboat Station

Participate

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Comment on this story on the

While crews from Oxford and Cambridge were rowing trials on the Thames this week they took time out to meet the duty crew at Chiswick RNLI lifeboat station, the charity partner for the 2020 Boat Race.

Most of the rowers were new to the river and as many were from all over the world knew little about the RNLI. The crew talked about the history of the institution since 1824 and why the search and rescue service started on the Thames in 2002 after the enquiries into the Marchioness disaster.

The crew described the dangers of the tideway for rowers and the particular risks for spectators during the boat race. The University squads had already seen Chiswick lifeboat on exercise and a number of times on emergencies including a launch during the Oxford crew’s visit. Chiswick lifeboat station will be providing safety cover for spectators during the boat race with two E class lifeboats as well as nine small rescue craft patrolling the foreshore.

lifeboat team with women rowers

An RNLI spokesman said ‘It was a great opportunity to meet the boat race squads. They appreciated learning about the RNLI, its search and rescue service on the Thames and the safety role the lifeboat crews have during the Boat Race.’

Chiswick RNLI lifeboat station is the second busiest in the UK and Ireland. Crews have attended 222 incidents so far in 2019. Since The RNLI search and rescue service on the Thames started in 2002, Chiswick Lifeboat has attended over 3,600 incidents and rescued over 1,750 people, and dozens of dogs. The RNLI is entirely funded by public donations.

Find Articles Like This Useful? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

December 14, 2019


Bookmark and Share