Fleetwood RNLI

WE ARE THE RNLI

THE CHARITY THAT SAVES LIVES AT SEA

The RNLI is privileged to attract volunteers who are willing to commit to the intensive training required to become a member of the crew, both afloat and ashore. Whilst traditionally, the large majority of crew were male, who predominately hailed from the fishing industry, today it’s a very different story.

Approximately 10% of the RNLI’s current 8,700 lifeboat and shore crew volunteers are female. They show the same commitment as their male counterparts and are an equally important asset to the search and rescue community.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I thought it appropriate to shine the spotlight on our female crew.

Today, our female volunteers are important crew members, committing to the intensive training to become Helms, Mechanics and Coxswains. At Fleetwood RNLI, we now have two female Helms on the in-shore lifeboat Harbet and they take the lead in call-outs.

One mum volunteering in the Lancashire RNLI team, is Hayley Melling at Blackpool RNLI. There are many reasons why our volunteers are inspired to join the RNLI. For Hayley, it was her young daughter, Nevaeh, now aged 10. Three years ago, Nevaeh’s vision was clear; to be a RNLI volunteer. She insisted on the family wandering down to the promenade each Wednesday evening to watch the Blackpool crew launch on exercise. The family were not allowed to leave until Nevaeh had seen the volunteers leave the station in their lifeboats.

Hayley, a Pre-School Leader at Thames School in Blackpool, having watched the proceedings for some time, decided to apply herself to become a volunteer, despite having no maritime background. When she visited the station to discuss joining as crew, it was made clear to her the commitment that was expected. From the start, Hayley was asked to consider and clarify how she would balance her family life and that of a lifesaving organisation, where minutes counted. She admits to suddenly realising the seriousness of what she was embarking on. But Hayley was determined to continue and with support from her family, her role at Blackpool RNLI, developed.

Hayley was expected to train as Shore Crew for the first 12 months, which all new recruits are expected to fulfil. This role gave her an understanding of how important it is to work as a team, before she started her training on the town’s D class in-shore lifeboat. After a few months, she was ready for launching on a call-out. Over three years later, she regularly turns up at the lifeboat station, with partner Shaun, another volunteer at Blackpool RNLI, when her pager bursts into life. Obviously, her family support is key for this to be possible.

Hayley recalls her first call-out;- the nervousness when the pager went off, turning up at the lifeboat station and seeing the crews launch quickly and professionally. It was clear, this was a life-or-death situation and she saw at first hand, how the training enabled her colleagues to work safely and swiftly, ensuring the casualty was provided with every chance of survival. The casualty did indeed survive and she knew then, there was no going back, this was what she wanted to do. She wanted to help save lives at sea.

Hayley was the first lifeboat crew female volunteer at Blackpool and she is a vital member of the team. She has since been joined by Lorraine, who is in training with the Shore Crew at present, but Hayley hopes other ladies will join her down at the lifeboat station and realise just how rewarding her role with the RNLI is. She also hopes one day, to join the other 52 female Helm’s on the RNLI’s in-shore lifeboat fleet.

So, how does daughter Nevaeh feel about her mum being a lifeboat volunteer and living her dream? Well, it’s fair to say, she’s incredibly proud of her mum and Hayley can’t wait for Nevaeh to be old enough to join her down at the station. Ezra, Hayley’s five-year-old son, has yet to realise how important his mum’s role is in the community, but I’m certain, in time, he’ll be just as proud as his sister, Nevaeh.

When mothers like Hayley respond to call-outs, they have no time to think about what lies ahead. Often, the volunteer crew have little information about the incident they are about to launch to. Once launched and there is clarity about the situation, they then prepare for the worse, whilst hoping for the best and as part of a team, the training ensures everybody knows what their particular responsibilities are, once they arrive on scene. Working closely with friends and colleagues, and with adrenalin kicking in, the volunteers have little time to be anxious or worried.

So, spare a thought for mothers like Kirsty Randles. Kirsty, a primary school teacher at Haweside Academy, Blackpool, is married to Gary and mother to son, Daryl. Fleetwood RNLI are lucky to have both amongst its lifeboat crew. Gaz, was a former Coxswain and is now a volunteer Relief Coxswain, whilst Daryl is Fleetwood RNLI’s full-time Coxswain/Mechanic.

Gaz joined Fleetwood RNLI several

Hayley Melling ©Richard Oughton. Kirsty& Gaz

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Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity registered in England and Wales (209603), Scotland (SC037736), the Republic of Ireland (20003326) and the Bailiwick of Jersey (14)

months after he first started dating Kirsty and she didn’t give it a lot of thought at the time. However, once married, the commitment made by Gaz suddenly hit home to his wife.

When the pager sounds, Kirsty’s role is to ensure her husband is able to respond quickly and efficiently, preparation being the key. As Gaz disappears in the car towards the lifeboat station, Kirsty has absolutely no idea what lies ahead for him or indeed, when he will return home. Left alone, with her thoughts, following a frantic couple of minutes, it’s clearly difficult to continue as though nothing is happening, but continue she does. Kirsty explained to me that middle of the night call-outs are the most difficult. The weather always sounds worse, ringing somebody in a similar position is more complicated, as she is often unsure who else is involved and the uncertainty of the situation does nothing to calm nerves.

To then have your son join the volunteers at the lifeboat station, doubled the anxiety.

When Daryl was a teenager, he always had an interest in fishing and boats and he indicated he would, one day, like to join his dad in the RNLI. Once he reached his 17th birthday, he joined his dad down at the lifeboat station and soon, his commitment to the lifesaving service was clear to all. Very rarely missing a training session, he loved the camaraderie of working alongside his fellow volunteers, all with the same focus – to save lives at sea.

Kirsty recalls the first call-out when both husband and son responded to the pager’s urgent alarm. ‘It was a mixture of pride and apprehension, but I was confident Gaz would look after our son’ she told me. ‘But I was obviously relieved once they’d both returned home’.

She knew then that her family’s life had changed and Kirsty had to become accustomed to interrupted dinners and late night call-outs, lying awake, worrying about her family. But she told me how extremely proud she is of her family’s role in helping save lives at sea.

There have been many proud moments for Kirsty, but none more than when son Daryl, followed in her husband’s footsteps and became Coxswain at Fleetwood RNLI. She knew how hard he’d worked and how determined he was to become Coxswain. Prior to that proud occasion, Kirsty welcomed the then Coxswain, Gaz and son Daryl back to Fleetwood, when they were part of the crew who brought the new Shannon class lifeboat, Kenneth James Pierpoint, to its new home port.

Kirsty has now become accustomed to finding herself alone in the middle of a supermarket, watching Gaz disappear past the tills, his pager alarming those close by and having to take a taxi home. Or left to finish dinner in a restaurant with friends, an empty place and half eaten meal next to her. But she accepts that this is how family life will be for the foreseeable future.

On occasions, the enormity of an unfolding tragedy at sea hits the news and Kirsty suddenly realises that her husband will be at the centre of it. Such a situation occurred in 2006 when a helicopter crashed into the Irish Sea. She knew Gaz would be out at sea for a considerable time in the search for casualties. Indeed, Gaz returned to port nearly six hours later and the knowledge that there would be no survivors hit everybody hard, including those at the centre of the search. Such occasions need the help of strong home support.

Kirsty has now become used to her son, Daryl, being exposed to difficult situations. As a mother, she always wanted to shield her son from tragedy, but realised whilst he was a volunteer with the RNLI, this wasn’t possible and that her support through challenging times could prove crucial.

Daryl’s partner, Emma, has become the ‘go to’ person for Kirsty to contact when father and son are both on a call-out. That contact helps them both and they can comfort each other over tea whilst waiting for news of their return. But Kirsty accepts that she’ll never get totally used to the knot in the stomach when the pager goes off.

At the moment, her other two sons, Ryan and Joseph, have decided to take a different path and as yet, are showing no signs of wanting to volunteer. I’ve no doubt, there’s a little bit of relief in that for Kirsty.

Both Kirsty and Hayley are extremely grateful and humbled by the donations the charity receives, ensuring the RNLI volunteers are well equipped to withstand the roughest conditions when out on a callout. So much so, they are both accustomed to helping out with fundraising at events, like Lifeboat Day, although they have been on hold for nearly two years because of the pandemic restrictions.

At the four RNLI lifeboat stations in Lancashire, we are fortunate enough to have 15 female crew and Shore Crew in the ranks, but we know there are many more mothers of RNLI volunteers! They all play their part in ensuring that the RNLI continues its mission to Saving Lives at Sea.

So, we tip our hats to the female volunteers of the RNLI and we also offer our thanks for the fantastic support the mothers give and hope all have a quiet and enjoyable Mother’s Day ! Young Daryl

Hayley and family

Gaz & Daryl