As part of the RNLI’s ‘Connecting our Communities’ relay to mark the charity’s 200th anniversary, a scroll bearing the RNLI pledge came to the Clifden and Galway Lifeboat Stations this week.
The scroll is being passed through RNLI communities – lifeboat stations, shops and fundraising branches – around Ireland and the UK and is being signed by representatives at each location on its route.
During the visit to the Clifden Lifeboat Station the scroll was signed by Miryam Harris, Anne Marie Bennett and Frank Acton.
At the Galway Lifeboat Station,the scroll was signed by Pat Lavelle who was one of the first fundraisers and a founding member of the lifeboat station in Galway in 1995 as well as a former Lifeboat Operations Manager, along with Mike Swan the current Lifeboat Operations Manager.
The pledge reads: ‘Whoever we are, wherever we are from, we are one crew, ready to save lives. We’re powered by passion, talent and kindness, like generations of selfless lifesavers before us. This is our watch, we lead the way, valuing each other, trusting each other, depending on one another, volunteering to face the storm together. Knowing that, with courage, nothing is impossible. That is what has always driven us to save every one we can. It’s what makes every one of us a lifesaver.’
Beneath the pledge, printed in seven languages (English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Manx, and Cornish), it says: ‘Signed in 2024 by representatives of the RNLI’s lifesaving communities, on behalf of all who strive to save every one.’
Frank Acton, RNLI Launch Authority who signed the scroll in Clifden said, “Over the course of seven months, the five-metre-long scroll is passing through 240 RNLI locations around Ireland and UK before finishing its journey in October at Douglas on the Isle of Man, which was home to the RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary.”
“By then it will carry around 700 signatures including the names of three RNLI volunteers from Clifden. The scroll will become part of the charity’s history and a significant snapshot of the charity as it stands at 200 years old and we are delighted to play our part.”
Mike Swan, Lifeboat Operations Manager with the Galway Lifeboat Station said, “The scroll has been made bespoke by RNLI craftspeople using materials of significance to the charity.”
“The wooden handle has been made by a carpenter from the RNLI’s All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole (where the charity builds and maintains its all-weather lifeboats), using wood from an old flagpole from Ramsey lifeboat station on the Isle of Man.”
“Apprentices from the RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat Centre on the Isle of Wight have made the protective fibreglass casing and set the scroll spindles and accessories into the case.”
“After the Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to mark the charity’s official 200th anniversary on 4 March, the scroll began its relay journey around the lifeboat stations.”
“It is very special that the Galway lifeboat crew past and present are represented on this piece of RNLI history. When the seven-month-long journey is complete, the scroll will be displayed in the RNLI College in Poole where all of our lifeboat crew are trained.”
Founded on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has been saving lives at sea for 200 years. Since the charity was founded, the charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
