Watching the current ‘Saving Lives At Sea’ RNLI documentary series on BBC Two reminds me why I love being part of the RNLI. Our 30 strong crew, shore crew and Station Management have their reasons for being part of Teddington RNLI Lifeboat Station. In society today juggling time for work and family life is tricky so why volunteer?

Volunteering for the RNLI is an exciting way of helping others all geared towards a shared goal to ‘save lives at sea’ or on the river.

Being of service to others is in my family DNA. My Dad, Uncle and Father-in-law were firemen in the Greater Manchester Fire Service. My Mum was in Bolton Home Care, two of my Sisters are NHS nurses in Bolton and one of my Sisters is a secondary school teacher in Manchester. My Grandad was in the Seaforth Highlanders and Cameronians at Dunkirk and Arnhem in WWII. As I now live in Teddington there is a nice connection to the Dunkirk Little Ships who left Teddington to rescue the British Expeditionary Force (including my Grandad).

My other Grandad was an engineer who helped build HMS Ark Royal. One Great Grandad taught Braille and my other Great Grandad was the Pier Master at Llandudno

All RNLI volunteers are well trained. Our Competency Based Training (CoBT) modules cover everything from Casualty Care to Navigation. We train every Tuesday night and Saturday morning at our station or on the river. We are all given sea training at RNLI HQ in Poole which is a fantastic experience where we get to meet our colleagues from other RNLI stations across the country.

Our master Excel spread sheet, updated weekly ensures we are covered 24/7 by our helms, crew and shore crew on our two D-Class boats. Some of our crew work in London so they do the evening and through the night shifts. At weekends we all free up some hours. The teamwork is great mixing with people from all other walks of life and career paths. The skills at our station are diverse. We have navy experience, policemen, a taxi driver, an airline pilot, property developers, environmental and marine experts and white-collar workers. Our blend of talent helps us all learn from each other. Our families and friends support us in what we do.

I’ve been Crew with Teddington RNLI since May 2015. Because of my BBC and corporate storytelling experience, the crew volunteered me as the new Lifeboat Press Officer (LPO) earlier this year. There have been some great stories which we publish on the RNLI website or in the Richmond & Twickenham Times. We get one or two ‘shouts’ every week.

It’s a privilege to take our boats out on the River Thames on training exercise or the outreach work we do with local boat clubs and schools. A sunny September Saturday morning training session is an amazing thing to do. Not easy to find the time as I am involved watching and managing my two sons in their local football teams (Teddington Athletic, NPL and Sutton United). My wife understands what it means for me to be part of the RNLI family too. The River Thames is such a mystical, magical river full of life and history. It’s a river which truly connects our local communities, towns and each other. Teddington RNLI are proud to be of service.