Welcome to National Coastwatch as it celebrates its 30th year keeping Eyes along the Coast.
Many congratulations to all our RNLI colleagues on your big birthday & 200 years of lifesaving!
We have huge admiration for the courage and skill of all the crews and the entire organisation’s dedication to saving lives at sea. We’re proud to be part of the search and rescue family and to work with you as fellow volunteers.
Our Royal Patron HRH The Princess Royal transforms a dull January day
Her Royal Highness toured the National Coastwatch station at Cromer and heard about the work that goes on every day by the dedicated volunteers who keep a visual and radio watch which helps to save lives around the coast.
After the station visit, there was a reception at the nearby The Cliftonville hotel, attended by around 30 volunteer watchkeepers and station managers from our other stations in East Anglia. The guests also included RNLI Cromer, Cromer Coastguard Rescue Team, local councillors, Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm and Simon Clipsom from Morrisons Cromer Community Champion, who has helped with fundraising over the past five years.
Image courtesy of Andreas Yiasimi
Stephen Hand, NCI chair formally welcomed Her Royal Highness to NCI Cromer and thanked her for her visit. He then invited her to present three long service awards to Glenice Knight, John Wootten and Andrew Pearcey who have each volunteered for five years. He then went onto say:
"What a wonderful start to the year in which we will celebrate our 30th anniversary of helping to keep people safe on the coast and saving lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch. It’s a huge source of pride that HRH The Princess Royal is our patron and that she takes such an active interest in our work. Her visits are always a great boost for our volunteers and all our friends and supporters in the local communities.”
National Coastwatch and the South West Coast Path Association join forces
We are delighted to share that the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) has become an official ‘Coast Path Passport’ stamping point partner.
The new partnership means that visitors to the South West Coast Path Trail can now stop off at our stations along the 630-mile route to collect different ‘stamps’ in their Coast Path Passport and find out more about the work of both charities.
National Coastwatch has 24 of its 60 stations along the South West Coast Path and our volunteers help to keep people safe on the coast and save lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch.
Stephen Hand Our Chair says,
“We’re delighted to partner with the South West Coast Path Association as we share the same broad aims of wanting people to share our love of the coast, enjoy themselves and take home happy memories. For us that means staying safe and all our stations along the Trail are now looking forward to giving a warm welcome to even more walkers, whether they are stopping for a passport stamp, a brief rest, or to check information about the local conditions.”
Helen Simpson, Station Manager at our NCI ST Ives station, stamps a
South West Coast Path Passport.