Dart RNLI volunteers were honoured to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal this afternoon (Thursday 16 April) to officially open their new lifeboat station at a special ceremony.
The Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, as a Vice President of the RNLI, unveiled a plaque outside the building to officially open the new lifeboat station. During the visit, Her Royal Highness also met the charity’s volunteer lifeboat crew, fundraisers, the visitor centre team, operational and station support teams, and lifeguards based in south Devon.
The new lifeboat station is at Ferry View House where the original lifeboat station was built in the 1800s.
The building has undergone extensive renovation and now includes a purpose built boat hall to house the station’s D class lifeboat and a dedicated changing area for the crew. On the first floor there is an open space for crew training, an office and welfare facilities. The building is a significant upgrade from the previous station at Coronation Park, where space was very limited for the 33-strong volunteer seagoing crew, shore crew and other volunteers to operate from.
Thanks to the generosity of donors, the new lifeboat station not only represents a return home, but also makes launching the D class lifeboat far easier and safer, and represents a significant investment in RNLI lifesaving in south Devon for future decades.
Commodore Jake Moores OBE, Chair of the Lifeboat Management Group at Dart Lifeboat Station, said: ‘It was a great privilege to welcome HRH The Princess Royal to Dart RNLI today to officially open our new lifeboat station and return the RNLI in Dartmouth to its original home, which it occupied until the end of the 19th century.
‘Our temporary lifeboat station on Coronation Park, which has housed our D class lifeboat since 2007, will now be run by the Dartmouth Youth Group for the benefit of the community.’
The event on Thursday 16 April began with an opening ceremony at 12.30pm. Jake Moores welcomed guests to the event and opened proceedings, before donor and local resident Alec Smith delivered a speech on behalf of all the donors and handed the station into the care of the RNLI.
RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes accepted the station on behalf of the RNLI, and passed it into the care of Dart Lifeboat Station, with volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager Iain Lomas accepting the station on behalf of Dart RNLI.
The Reverend Dr Andrew Langley led a service of dedication, and Interim Head of Region for the South West, Nigel Viles, delivered a Vote of Thanks.
Shortly afterwards, The Princess Royal arrived and was presented to civic dignitaries, the Dart RNLI volunteer management team and RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes by the Lord-Lieutenant of Devon, David Fursdon, before unveiling a commemorative plaque at the front of the station.
Following the unveiling, Her Royal Highness was escorted into the boat hall to meet several volunteers, including Lifeboat Operations Manager Iain Lomas and a number of volunteer crew. Inside the boat hall, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence presented a 20-year long service award to volunteer helm Rich Eggleton.
A surprise for Rich, he said: ‘It’s such an honour to be part of the Dart RNLI team and it was a very proud moment for me and my family. I have loved being a volunteer from the outset. A special day for all of us and an amazing new station.’
The Princess Royal then proceeded upstairs to the crew room where Her Royal Highness met those who had contributed to the renovation project, as well as fundraising volunteers and volunteers from the nearby RNLI visitor centre and the station support team. The Princess Royal was also introduced to RNLI lifeguards from South Hams beaches at Blackpool Sands and Bantham, Luke, Matt, Noah and Daisy.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the RNLI Lifeguard Service which patrols over 240 beaches across the UK and Channel Islands. RNLI lifeguards have saved over 2,000 lives and helped hundreds of thousands more since 2001.
