When researching his family history, Martin Leach unearthed a fascinating story of convicts, a shipwreck and a lifeboat rescue What do a barrister, teacher and research chemist have in common? All well-respected professions, and - in the case of the Leach family - descendants of a convict who was rescued by the RNLI in 1862. Hear the colourful history Martin Leach discovered when he unpicked his family background - the star of the show being his grandmother’s grandfather who was transported to B...
Feb 03, 2024•12 min•Ep. 170
Somewhere around the world, drowning takes a life every other minute. Meet the woman striving to change that The RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary, had a vision to save lives at sea, not just in the UK and Ireland, but across the globe – and the RNLI’s international team are helping his vision become a reality. Kate Eardley, co-leader of the international team, talks about the RNLI’s work supporting drowning prevention in more than 40 countries across the world. She shares the humbling experie...
Feb 02, 2024•13 min•Ep. 169
When the Pride flag was raised at RNLI Skegness Lifeboat Station for the first time, it was a powerful moment for Brad Johnson In an area where the Pride flag might not be flown as much as in a city location, Brad Johnson was keen to fly the flag to raise awareness of inclusion, equality and diversity and reach out to the LGBTQI+ community. It was something enthusiastically supported by fellow crew members. Brad talks about how, from day one, he was open about his sexuality and warmly welcomed t...
Feb 01, 2024•9 min•Ep. 168
Jim Brown on the boyhood tragedy that inspired his lifelong commitment to the RNLI On 1 February 1953, a 10-year-old boy stood with his father and younger brother and watched as 13 bodies were brought to shore by the Sir Samuel Kelly lifeboat. The 13 recovered were among 133 lost in the Princess Victoria ferry disaster the day before, when more than 30 passengers were rescued by the lifeboat crew as the ferry sank 7 miles east of Belfast Lough. The 10-year-old boy watching on was Jim Brown, who ...
Jan 31, 2024•10 min•Ep. 167
When Veronica Vondy decided to research her family tree, it led to an ancestor with a surprising story – the saving of the man who founded the RNLI Just 6 years after the RNLI was formed, its founder - Sir William Hillary - was himself thrown overboard whilst going to the aid of the steamer, St George, in Douglas Harbour, Isle of Man. Veronica Vondy, from Peel on the Isle of Man’s west coast, tells the story of how her family research led her all the way back to the lifeboat that went to the aid...
Jan 30, 2024•13 min•Ep. 166
When Anne Scott retired from her full-time job at the RNLI, Buckie lifeboat crew had other ideas. Now, RNLI stalwart Anne volunteers at the station – and sees the crew as family One of Anne’s earliest memories is of being 4 or 5 and trying to stay awake, not for Santa Claus, but for her dad – the mechanic at Cromarty Lifeboat – to return home from a shout. Her uncle John was RNLI crew too, and her mother a passionate fundraiser. Fittingly, Anne later became an RNLI Fundraising Manager and suppor...
Jan 29, 2024•13 min•Ep. 165
Lucy Crichard is the RNLI’s first sustainability apprentice. She shares what drew her to the role, and reveals her efforts to inspire others like her The winner of the MAKE UK Business Apprentice Rising Star award for the South-West - Lucy Crichard - believes we can all be change-makers. Hear why she started a Sustainability Champions newsletter, and why she takes part in the RNLI’s annual Women in Engineering Day - an event that allows schoolgirls to take part in STEM activities. Since this epi...
Jan 28, 2024•7 min•Ep. 164
Dr Aminur Rahman on how his charity – supported by the RNLI – is tackling Bangladesh’s drowning problem In Bangladesh, water gives life, but it also destroys it. A survey carried out by pioneering safety charity, the CIPRB, found that 40 children were drowning daily – the majority lost in inland ponds. In this episode, the CIPRB’s Dr Aminur Rahman explains how the SwimSafe programme – delivered with the support of the RNLI – is tackling the horrifying loss of young lives in the country. For more...
Jan 27, 2024•11 min•Ep. 163
One year into her appointment as Chair of the RNLI, Janet Legrand shares her unique insight into the charity Her earliest memories of the RNLI are from childhood - Blue Peter, and visits to the RNLI shop in Eastbourne to buy souvenirs with her pocket money. Now, Janet - a lawyer by profession - is Chair of the RNLI, which means she’s head of the board legally responsible for the charity’s affairs. Janet talks about the highlights of her first year at the RNLI, from stepping on stage at her first...
Jan 26, 2024•9 min•Ep. 162
Pamela Deasy helped campaign for an RNLI lifeboat station at Union Hall – now she can see it from her window. Meet the woman who has been an RNLI volunteer for decades, through good times and bad After tragedy struck Union Hall when a local trawler hit a rock in the harbour, Pamela Deasy determinedly campaigned for a local RNLI lifeboat station - which has now been operational for 10 years. Her determination has also been key in helping to organise local fundraising events, including the popular...
Jan 25, 2024•15 min•Ep. 161
The creator of Launch! - a film about Scotland’s RNLI lifeboat crews - on why sound was key to portraying what lifeboat stations mean to local communities Film-maker Shona Thomson knows that it takes a whole community to launch a lifeboat. To underline the deep connection that locals have with their lifeboat station, Shona wanted an immersive score that would do justice to the archive footage she was unearthing for her film: Launch! On The Sea With Scotland’s Lifeboats. Acclaimed musicians - Jas...
Jan 24, 2024•12 min•Ep. 160
When Alice Higgins isn’t saving lives she’s saving lives. Meet the Lead Lifeguard Supervisor who’s also on the crew at RNLI Weymouth When she’s not working as Lead Lifeguard Supervisor for Weymouth and Dorset, or volunteering as a crew member for Weymouth Lifeboat Station, Alice Higgins can be found in the sea. Whether it’s a daily dip during the winter months, or bodyboarding in the summer, the water is her happy place. Alice talks about her lifelong connection to the sea, including how in chil...
Jan 23, 2024•8 min•Ep. 159
After Vicky Murphy and husband Marc were cut off by the tide at Chapel Porth Beach, St Agnes, they thought their time – and that of their unborn baby – was up In 2009, a 34-weeks pregnant Vicky Murphy and her husband Marc were taking a stroll around the headland at Chapel Porth Beach in Cornwall. In no time, the incoming tide had cut them off. Soon, waves were crashing over their heads, and the only thing stopping Vicky from being dragged out to sea was the fact that Marc had hooked one of his a...
Jan 22, 2024•7 min•Ep. 158
Clinging to the side of a cliff with a broken ankle and worrying she might faint, climber Polly couldn’t do anything but wait Polly had gone climbing at Anvil Point in Dorset with her husband. Both were experienced climbers and things were all good until Polly had an accident and fractured her ankle. In pain and with no phone signal, she recalls how her husband had to go and get help while she was dangling off the cliff, trying not to move and injure herself further. Polly, who’s the Chief Execu...
Jan 21, 2024•7 min•Ep. 157
Naval Architect Natasha Banks once thought engineering wasn’t for her. Now she’s inspiring the next generation Having always enjoyed STEM subjects at school, Natasha went on to study Marine Technology at Newcastle University. Despite at one time wondering if engineering was for her, she found her niche at the RNLI. Now a Naval Architect, Natasha talks about what she enjoys about the role, the pivotal part her mentor played in setting her on her path, and about the prospect of becoming a mentor h...
Jan 20, 2024•9 min•Ep. 156
When all but one of the Fraserburgh lifeboat crew were lost in 1970, thousands attended the funeral. Vic Sutherland on the tragedy that sadly wasn’t the lifeboat station’s first Outside Scotland’s first RNLI lifeboat station stands a statue of a lifeboat crew member watching over Fraserburgh harbour. The memorial – donations for which came from as far afield as Canada and Australia – stands as a tribute to the 13 lifesavers lost in three separate tragedies. In 1919, two volunteers were swept ove...
Jan 19, 2024•10 min•Ep. 155
Disabled yachtsman and adventurer, Geoff Holt MBE, on achieving his seafaring dreams and inspiring disabled people to get out on the water When Geoff was 18, he landed a dream job as First Mate on a luxury yacht in the Caribbean. On the first day there, he dived into the sea and broke his neck, suffering a devastating injury which meant he’s been in a wheelchair ever since. Geoff talks about his personal journey, including marrying the nurse who helped care for him in hospital, and how – thinkin...
Jan 18, 2024•17 min•Ep. 154
Familiar to millions as the former face of BBC Breakfast, hear how RNLI supporter Louise Minchin surprised herself with a midlife love of – and talent for – outdoor swimming It’s part of Louise’s family lore that she could swim before she could walk. Her passion for swimming shone during her childhood when she swam competitively until she was 15. Louise talks about why she decided to stop racing as a teen, and how her passion for swimming challenges resurfaced with a vengeance in her mid-40s. Fr...
Jan 17, 2024•13 min•Ep. 153
Trapped under a sail after being thrown overboard in pitch darkness, James Gaskin thought it was the end. He transports us miles out to sea on a stormy night off The Lizard Nearing the end of a solo sailing trip from Brittany to Ireland, James was enveloped by a foreboding darkness in the middle of a shipping lane. Caught in squalls, he battened down the hatches, but was thrown overboard. Utterly exhausted, and dreading that a giant tanker might run over him, he thought his time was up. 200 Voic...
Jan 16, 2024•15 min•Ep. 152
When school friends Stanley and Peter boarded a cabin cruiser in 1940, little did they know they’d play a part in the Dunkirk evacuation It was the Second World War rescue mission that Winston Churchill called a ‘miracle of deliverance’. The port of Dunkirk was destroyed – its beaches the only escape route for nearly 340,000 retreating allied troops. Shallow waters meant that big ships couldn’t get close enough for a mass evacuation. Only the smallest of vessels could reach the shattered soldier...
Jan 15, 2024•14 min•Ep. 151
David, a Watch Officer with the Irish Coast Guard, knows exactly how it feels to listen to the radio for news of a loved one who’s out at sea. As a boy, he was the one listening When David O’Driscoll was a child, he and his family would gather round his grandmother’s kitchen table to listen to radio exchanges between the Coast Guard and his father, who – as an RNLI coxswain – was out on another rescue. Looking back, he is reminded of a line from the Phil Coulter song Home from the Sea: ‘They gat...
Jan 14, 2024•11 min•Ep. 150
The RNLI’s most decorated serving coxswain on launching to a Greek Prince, and meeting a real one On the night of 13 January 2008, the crew of the Greek-registered cargo ship Ice Prince was in serious trouble 31 miles off Portland Bill. Arriving on scene in atrocious conditions, the crew of the Torbay lifeboat found the Ice Prince taking on water and listing badly – she was destined to sink beneath the waves. Torbay Coxswain Mark Criddle reflects on the rescue that would earn him an RNLI Silver ...
Jan 13, 2024•14 min•Ep. 149
In the case of Jamie Robson White – descendant of famous lifesavers – the apple didn’t fall far from the tree With a heritage like Jamie Robson White’s, it’s no wonder he’s passionate about saving lives at sea – lifesaving is tightly woven into his family history. In this episode, Jamie – full-time Second Coxswain at Humber Lifeboat Station and volunteer at Whitby Lifeboat Station – shares memories of his grandmother first showing him the family tree. Jamie is a distant relative of Grace Darling...
Jan 12, 2024•10 min•Ep. 148
A horse is trapped in an oyster bed. The tide is coming in. Kinsale Helm Jonathan Connor on galloping to the rescue When the pager goes off, RNLI crew never know what to expect. But a horse trapped in an oyster bed? That was a first. Kinsale crew member Jonathan Connor recalls the crisp February morning when the RNLI were called to the rescue of Paddy the horse, whose owner couldn’t swim. An unusual call out, but Jonathan isn’t new to drama. When he was 17, and a trainee at Kinsale, he was in th...
Jan 11, 2024•13 min•Ep. 147
Meet the man helping to cut the number of river drownings in Galway The River Corrib in Galway is fast-flowing and dangerous. In the past, because of a lack of communication and co-ordination between local agencies, when a person entered the river, the RNLI couldn’t get there in time. Galway RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Michael Swan was determined to change that. He talks about working with other local emergency services and agencies to put an effective, co-ordinated search and rescue plan i...
Jan 10, 2024•14 min•Ep. 146
The RNLI’s Medical Director on the unique challenges crew face, from performing casualty care on the deck of a lifeboat to coping with traumatic shouts Aroop Mozumder is the RNLI’s first Medical Director – and he’s a busy man. Having previously put his medical skills to use in war zones and humanitarian disaster zones, Aroop talks about how his experiences as a military doctor have prepared him well for life in the RNLI. Acknowledging the difficult conditions in which RNLI crew treat injured and...
Jan 09, 2024•9 min•Ep. 145
A to E – Principal Engineer Holly Phillips on designing the fastest lifeboat in the RNLI fleet Holly Phillips has always loved boats, spending most of her life being in them, on them or under them. Having joined the RNLI Poole crew in 1992, and starting as Senior Naval Architect 10 years later, she shaped the evolution of lifeboat engineering during her impressive 21-year career at the RNLI. In particular, she was instrumental in the design of the fast and manoeuvrable E class lifeboat, and was ...
Jan 08, 2024•10 min•Ep. 144
The ripple effect – thanks to Poole’s 2022 RNLI Lifeguard of the Year, Sandbanks’ gain is also Senegal’s Poole lifeguard Idi Ndiaye is so much at home in the water that his nickname is ‘The Waterman’. Idi, a former military firefighter, ambulance driver and rescue diver, is from Dakar in Senegal – a place where drowning is all too common. While working as a lifeguard on the beaches there, he once saved three boys at once from a riptide – an act performed without any lifesaving equipment. It led ...
Jan 07, 2024•11 min•Ep. 143
In 1923, Joseph Conrad wrote the foreword for Britain’s Life-Boats: The Story of a Century of Heroic Service. Toby Harper shares the author’s thoughts The author Joseph Conrad’s fascination with the sea began when he was just 13. Inspired by a book he’d read about the search for Sir John Franklin’s lost ships, Erebus and Terror, he spent 19 years in the merchant navy before turning to writing, often penning tales about the sea and those who sail on it. His travels gave rise to some of the storie...
Jan 06, 2024•4 min•Ep. 142
When Shaddah the dog chased a ball into the sea, he was quickly swept out. His owner relives the anxious wait for a dog with no off-switch Shaddah is a cross between a Labrador and a Springer Spaniel. And as anyone who knows Springers knows, they love the water. One March day at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, Shaddah’s enthusiastic nature got him into trouble. Determined to retrieve an elusive ball, the black dog was the same colour as the water he was swept out by. And his owner, Reverend Wil...
Jan 05, 2024•13 min•Ep. 141
