RNLI and Independent Lifeboats: Covid-19

Jacob Young Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Westminster Hall

[Jacob Young (Redcar) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie, in my first speech in Westminster Hall. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) for securing this debate and for making his case so eloquently. It is a useful opportunity for us all to pay tribute to our local lifeboat stations, including my local RNLI station in Redcar, which does such an amazing job in the most difficult of circumstances. I also wish to extend my congratulations to Redcar’s Bob O’Neill, who today has received his 50 years’ service award from the RNLI—an incredible achievement.

As has been said, there is no doubt that fundraising has been completely curtailed this year. The annual Redcar lifeboat fundraising day usually raises about £4,000. This year, just £600 was raised through a virtual event held online. I commend Redcar RNLI for that £600, because it is not easy to raise money online only. That was an incredible achievement. However, it does not take a mathematician to realise that £600 is a long way from £4,000. On top of that, a lot of fundraising comes through the Redcar lifeboat ladies guild, and, unfortunately, most of the women in the guild are in the vulnerable category and have been shielding throughout the pandemic, so they have also been unable to raise money as they usually would.

The annual cost of running my local lifeboat station, which goes up and down depending on the number of shouts, is in the order of £50,000, excluding any out-of-the-ordinary maintenance that might have to be done to some of the equipment. We can, therefore, begin to see the problems that may arise if the lifeboat station is unable to fundraise in its usual way.

Nationally, the RNLI faces a predicted shortfall of between £20 million and £45 million this year. That is unsustainable for any organisation, not least a charity such as the RNLI. I want to be clear that I do not support any form of nationalisation of the RNLI, and I am glad that no one else present does, either. It is in troubled waters, and in those circumstances we do not need a new captain; we need a lifeboat. That is what I think we should be aiming to provide: a helping hand at this difficult time, whether requested or not. Personnel at the Redcar lifeboat station tell me that they are incredibly proud of their history as a charity that is funded by the community to support the community. Last week marked a birthday celebration, it being 218 years since the first launch of a lifeboat in Redcar. The Redcar lifeboats predate the RNLI by about 20 years and we are home to the oldest lifeboat in the UK, the Zetland, which successfully completed its first rescue in December 1802, saving 15 souls.

We are incredibly proud of the Redcar lifeboats. As I have said, the cost of running our station is in the order of £50,000, which goes up and down depending on the number of shouts. The lifeboat station personnel tell me that during the period of lockdown until now has been their busiest summer on record. This is attributed to the fact that this year was the year of the staycation—the UKation—where more and more people are staying at home and enjoying the sun on the beaches in the UK rather than abroad.

Another, much more harrowing aspect is the mental health crisis we face. A growing number of people are choosing to end their lives at sea due to mental ill health. We need to have an honest conversation—perhaps not in this debate—about the obvious link between the mental health crisis and covid-19. We need to be realistic about the risks to mental health of lockdown, in the same way as we are realistic about the risks to physical health of allowing the virus to spread. That, however, is for another debate.

To finish, I would like to say a big thank you to the Redcar lifeboat station for the tireless dedication of its volunteers, who have gone through all the same personal difficulties as the rest of us, arguably more so as a result of seeing the effects of potential loss of life at sea. Each one of those volunteers gets the shout and they respond without hesitation. No matter what they are going through at that particular time, they put themselves at risk to serve others. They deserve our thanks, they deserve our praise, and most of all they deserve our support.