As 2015 drew to a close, with the boat in the bag so to speak, there was still a huge amount of work to be done on administration, logistics and finance. On 11th December the constitution of the new charity “St Abbs Lifeboat” was sent to the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and this was subsequently registered in the new year. This then enabled the organisation to also open a bank account in its own name, something that was achieved by the end of February 2016, and to start acting independently – an important step on the road to success.
The organisation was registered as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) which is a specific legal structure for charities in Scotland. This structure is designed to simplify the process for charities by providing a single point of regulation with OSCR, unlike charitable companies which are regulated by both OSCR and Companies House.
Discussions were also underway at this time with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to ensure that the boat’s design specification complied strictly with the Rescue Boat Code – the “bible” under which the future lifeboat would have to operate. Visits to Independent Lifeboats such as PIRSAC at Port William in Galloway and Maryport Inshore Rescue in Cumbria who also had an MST boat, helped start to piece together the myriad of things that needed to be considered in running an independent service.
Training plans for the crew were being discussed and first aid training was carried out. Research was undertaken into defibrillators and other necessary medical equipment. Agreement was reached about what the new crew “formal uniform” should look like for official wear.
Ideas continued to flood in around fundraising. A packed fundraising meeting on 15th January discussed everything from the precursor to the incredibly successful 5p pot scheme (smarties tubes sent to local schools for 20p pieces) to crowdfunding, virtual shops so that donors could buy pieces of crew equipment, a Friends of St Abbs Lifeboat scheme etc. Not all these things came to fruition, but the ideas were all enthusiastically discussed.
As Christmas approached and other people pulled crackers and donned party hats, the community of St Abbs was busy doing their paperwork.
To be continued……on 24th March with “The Order”……
If you were involved in the campaign at the time and have any memories you’d like to share about what you did and what it meant to you, please use the link above to post your thoughts.
If you have any photos you’d like to include in this album we’d love to see them so please email them to [email protected]
