Saturday, May 25, saw the signing of the RNLI scroll as part of the “Connecting Our Communities” event, one of the ways that the RNLI is marking its 200th anniversary in 2024.
The RNLI operates over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and provides a 24-hour search and rescue service around these areas. On March 4, this year, it celebrated its 200th anniversary since its founding in 1824.
The event sees a scroll bearing the RNLI pledge being passed through RNLI stations across the country after starting its journey in Westminster Abbey in London.
The scroll has been made for purpose by RNLI craftspeople, using materials of significance to the charity.
The wooden handle of the scroll has been made by a carpenter from the RNLI’s All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, where some of the largest all-weather lifeboats are constructed and maintained. The wood used is from an old flagpole from the Ramsey Lifeboat Station on the Isle of Man.
One of the volunteers, Ally McMahon, at RNLI Cleethorpes took the event one step further by running from Skegness Lifeboat Station via Mablethorpe Lifeboat Station to Cleethorpes carrying a flag made from the same materials as the scroll after each station signed the scroll.
The scroll eventually made its way to Cleethorpes, where it was signed by the Lifeboat Operations Manager, President of the Fundraising Branch, and the Water Safety Officer.
Mick Fowler, Lifeboat Operations Manager, said, “The 200th anniversary of the RNLI is a momentous occasion, and we’re all delighted to be a part of it. Being chosen to sign the scroll is a culmination of my career in the RNLI since the 1980’s.”
Over the course of seven months, the five-metre-long scroll will pass through 240 other locations around the UK before finishing it’s journey in October at Douglas on the Isle of Man, which was the home to the RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary, and will accrue over 700 signatures.
Tomorrow morning will see the next step in the scroll’s journey as it is taken out on a lifeboat by the crew at RNLI Cleethorpes to “continue it’s journey up to the Humber Lifeboat Station”.
