Father and son recognised for more than 50 years of lifeboat service
by Rod McLean on 15 Aug 2014
RNLI / Henry Weaver
http://rnli.org/
Ron Churchill junior, a volunteer lifeboat crew member at Arbroath, Scotland, has followed in the footsteps of his father, Ron senior, having recently been awarded with a long service medal by the RNLI.
In 2012, Ron senior, who is also the oldest serving boat crew member in Scotland, was awarded a medal for 30 years’ service and now 2014 marks 20 years’ of service to the lifeboat charity for son Ron.
Reflecting on reaching this milestone, Ron junior said ‘The time has certainly passed very quickly and I couldn’t believe it was 20 years already!
With my dad being a volunteer already, he always encouraged me to join too and when one or two others suggested I could be of some use to the lifeboats I decided to go for it!
There have been dozens of memorable shouts but the one that sticks in my mind ost of all is the rescue of two jet-skiers from the Tay estuary back in 2012.
The events of that day have been well publicised already but to have found them live after hope had begun to fade was very rewarding.
There are of course some shouts that can be tough but the camaraderie between the oys in the crew is great and helps us all keep our spirits up!’
Lifeboat operations manager at Arbroath, Alex Smith, paid tribute to the Churchill amily’s dedication saying ‘For the two Ron’s to have reached a combined service of ver 50 years shows a real commitment to the lifeboats, not just from the guys themselves but also their families. So it gave me great delight to have been able to present Ron junior with his medal recently in recognition of his 20 years’ service.’
