Since the launch of St Abbs Independent lifeboat in 2016 we have been grateful to all those who have kept us floating and functioning as a result of their donations. We have recently started sharing a few news stories with you that shine a spotlight on some of the groups in particular who, through their activities, have become regular donors over the years.
Today we were visited by members of Robin Hood Dive Club who came to hand over a final donation from the Club. Sadly, after over 25 years the Club has decided to close, and like many Clubs that have similarly been lost around the UK, this represents a big loss to the diving community. Last year we had a similar closing donation and said farewell to Havering Sub Aqua Club who had also been regular visitors to St Abbs. Clubs like these which provide organised dive trips are an essential part of the training and mentoring regimes that self-govern the diving community. They are also, of course, a brilliant way of meeting and forging lifelong friendships as well as having a beer or two in far-flung exotic locations such as St Abbs.
Lifeboat’s around the UK are obviously of huge significance to Dive Clubs, and here in St Abbs a high proportion of our shouts are to stricken divers who need immediate medical assistance. When Robin Hood Dive Club heard of the threat of closure of the Station at St Abbs in 2015, it joined the many who could not understand the logic of the decision. Tim and Liz Saville, the main coordinators of the Club, decided to start the famous Save St Abbs Lifeboat Petition which ended up scoring over 13,500 signatures.
They didn’t stop there either. In June of that year the Club gathered en masse in the harbour dressed as pirates as part of a wedding anniversary celebration and were the first to get their photographs taken with the new logo. These photos were then shared far and wide on social media thereby spreading the word across the UK…..well to Yorkshire at least. In October 2015 the Club went on to host car boot sales and other events in “gods own country”, raising funds for the campaign and getting the word out wherever and whenever they could. Moving forward, many members of the Club came up for the launch and celebrated alongside local friends and campaigners. Today, one member of the Club is now on the Lifeboat crew and another is on the Committee. Tim Saville meanwhile sadly, rests peacefully up on St Abbs Head, undoubtedly watching the Lifeboat pass by on its weekly exercises.
Robin Hood Dive Club is of course not the only Club that has actively and generously supported the Lifeboat through the years. It just seems to have a lot of personal interwoven connections which makes it unique. Its particularly appropriate to focus on them today as they make their formal farewell to us because one of their members has chosen to start his stag-do by visiting the Station to hand over the donation. We wish him every happiness in his forthcoming wedding and we say a very fond farewell and thank you to Robin Hood Dive Club…..but not to its members, who we are sure will keep visiting us.
