Trustees of the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust are delighted to announce that we have been awarded £31,785.09 by the Department for Transport from the Inshore and Inland Rescue Boat Grant Scheme.



The grant will cover 90% of the cost of new kit to be used by our volunteer lifeboat crew. A lot of this will be to replace older kit that has been used for many years and is coming to the end of its serviceable life.



Tony D’Arcy Masters, Secretary of the Southport Lifeboat said; “We’re absolutely delighted to once again have been awarded with a grant from the Department for Transport.”



The Department for Transport from the Inshore and Inland Rescue Boat Grant Scheme has run annually since 2014/15 and gives rescue organisation charities, like the Southport Lifeboat, the opportunity to apply for grants to be used within that year to meet costs of equipment and other items that support rescue operations.



The Fund was originally announced in November 2014 as a five year, £5 million challenge fund to support the work of independent charities that operate lifeboats and other rescue boats in UK inshore and inland waters.



The initial funding ended in 2018/19 but the Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani MP, has ensured that additional resources were prioritised for this further grant round.



Tony continued; “This is the second time that we have benefited from the grant, having received £33,825 in 2016 to pay for half of our inshore lifeboat, the Christopher Taylor.”



In addition to replacing existing kit, some items will be a first for us such as personal locator beacons, personal flotation devices and water rescue helmets.



Keith Porter, Trustee and Coxswain said; “Safety is paramount for all of our volunteers. The PLBs will mean every crew member on either of the boats will have their own distress beacon that, if activated, will transmit their GPS position to other vessels in the area.



“Whilst we hope that our crew will never need to use these, they would drastically improve the time it would take for a crew member to be found should they ever come into difficulty.



“We have also decided to invest in new flotation devices and helmets which will be used during mud rescues instead of the jackets and helmets worn on the boats which are not designed to be used in mud.



“We are finding problems through routine maintenance caused by the mud so have taken the opportunity with the grant funding to buy some PFDs and helmets that we can use on mud operations instead of the kit we normally wear on the boat.”



With the completion of the new lifeboat station due later this year, some of this new equipment will be stored until we move across.



Tony said; “We take every effort to look after all of the equipment we have, ultimately we have to store it in a damp and cold boathouse which isn’t ideal. We’re also severely limited for space and storage facilities where we are currently.



“Once the new Lifeboat Station is completed in the summer we will have ample storage space and a better environment for our kit to be kept in so we will be able to get a better life span out of it.”



Volunteers are now working to order the equipment from various suppliers in time for the fund’s deadline of 13th March.

Shame they’re not spending some of it on the rusting eyesore on the seafront which was supposed to be the new lifeboat station. Leave it much longer and it will have completely rusted away.

Originally Posted by donkey22

Shame they’re not spending some of it on the rusting eyesore on the seafront which was supposed to be the new lifeboat station. Leave it much longer and it will have completely rusted away.

If you'd have actually been past then you would have noticed that they are working on it again!!!

Anyway, this is fantastic news for the charity, our local lifeboat, and should be celebrated not looking for the negatives as usual!! Well done Southport Lifeboat!

Originally Posted by donkey22

Shame they’re not spending some of it on the rusting eyesore on the seafront which was supposed to be the new lifeboat station. Leave it much longer and it will have completely rusted away.

If you'd bothered to find out you would have discovered that the delay was due to a fault with the rust prevention on the steelwork and was awaiting for the manufacturers to put it right.

Originally Posted by kelloggs

If you'd have actually been past then you would have noticed that they are working on it again!!!

Anyway, this is fantastic news for the charity, our local lifeboat, and should be celebrated not looking for the negatives as usual!! Well done Southport Lifeboat!

Maybe they should update the ‘news’ section of their website then? There’s no mention of work starting up again.

Originally Posted by onehorsetown2

If you'd bothered to find out you would have discovered that the delay was due to a fault with the rust prevention on the steelwork and was awaiting for the manufacturers to put it right.

Well said, it is really sad the amount of negativity in the town.

Whilst the project has had it's problems, we should be proud of the fact that our town has paid for this building itself! We should also admire them for not accepting sub standard work and standing their ground! If only that happened a bit more around here!

Also we should really be celebrating the fact that the Government has awarded them with a grant to buy new kit for the volunteers who go our there risking their lives to save people they have never met. After all, that is what the article is about!

But people want to hide behind their screens and be negative towards those who actually get off their backsides and try and do a bit to make their town better. It's a shame really.

There you go again Donk, engaging hoof before brain

Originally Posted by donkey22

Maybe they should update the ‘news’ section of their website then? There’s no mention of work starting up again.

Maybe you should get out more.