Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat recruits new members to its senior management team
Volunteers at Lyme Regis RNLI recently welcomed two new faces to the lifeboat station with the appointment of new joiners to the station’s team of Launching Authorities.
Tony Thompkins started his career in the Royal Navy as a marine engineer and diver before becoming a Police Officer in the Surrey and City of London Police forces. He moved to the southwest in 2014 and crewed on commercial fishing vessels out of Lyme Regis before qualifying as a skipper. During the Covid pandemic he returned to Police service with the Devon and Cornwall force as part of the national pandemic response. In all he spent 36 years as a Police Officer. Now retired, he also volunteers as a Blood Bike rider for Devon Freewheelers as well as for the RNLI. Tony said: ‘I am very pleased to join the RNLI and contribute to the valuable work out volunteers do in saving lives. This is a great way for me to give back to my local community.’
Nick Simpson’s family moved to Lyme Regis in 1976, and he grew up here. He is no stranger to maritime rescue having spent ten years as a volunteer Coastguard in the local rescue team, stepping down in 2000. A career civil servant, Nick is a contract specialist working for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority which oversees the closure and safe clean-up of the UK’s earliest sites safely, securely and cost-effectively. Nick said: ‘I already know many of the lifeboat crew and worked with them during my time as a Coastguard. It is a real privilege to join the crew and to help them continue to save lives at sea.’
Lifeboat Operations Manager Mark Colley said: ‘We are very pleased to welcome Tony and Nick to the Lyme Regis crew. They bring valuable maritime and management experience to our team of Launching Authorities one of whom is on call 24/7, 365 days a year.’
Launching Authorities are a crucial part of lifeboat operations and have the responsibility for deciding when it is safe and appropriate to launch a lifeboat in response to a call for help. The launching authority role is one of many shore-based roles at a RNLI lifeboat station. Vacancies at Lyme Regis can be found on the RNLI website RNLI.org/volunteer.
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Phot 1 Tony Thompkins joins Lyme Regis RNLI as a Launching Authority. Photo credit: RNLI/Nick Marks
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Phot 2 Nick Simpson joins Lyme Regis RNLI as a Launching Authority. Photo credit: RNLI/Nick Mark
RNLI media contacts
For more information, please contact Nick Marks volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer at Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station on 07568 187582 or [email protected], or Emma Haines, Regional Communications Manager, on 07786 668847 or [email protected], or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.
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