RNLI 200th: Station mechanic 'passionate about RNLI' and what it means to Whitby community

Richard Dowson has been with the RNLI for 22 years as a crew member and is now the station mechanic – he is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the two lifeboats and equipment and making sure they’re ready to go.

He goes out with the offshore boat and is helmsman for the inshore boat.

So how did he first get involved?

"Like anyone else, in the pub, over a pint,” he laughed.

"My great-great-grandfather was a coxswain, it’s skipped a few generations but always been in my mind.

"I lived in a flat in the Market Square for the first 14 years of my life and played on the beach as a child.

"I saw the boats go out and heard the maroons going off.

"I’m part of the Friendship Rowing Club so I’ve always been in and around water and quite a lot of the crew members said ‘why don’t you join up?’

"I’m passionate about the RNLI and what it means to Whitby in a small fishing harbour and a community like ours.

"I’m part of the RNLI but it’s like being part of the community as a town.”

He said people sometimes ask why the RNLI isn’t Government funded; it was established as a charity and has full-time employees but the volunteers “remain the core of what we do".