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A celebration in
honour of donors who funded three
lifeboats and major station
improvements |
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On Saturday 25th April
2009 a special ceremony took place to
officially name the latest lifeboat to
be placed on service at Hayling Island
lifeboat station and to dedicate the
recently extended boathouse to those
who helped fund it.
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Peter
Glasby, Chairman of the Hayling Island
Lifeboat Management Group opened the
proceeding and welcomed around 350
people to the celebrations.
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Mr Andrew
Ashton, RNLI Divisional Inspector of
Lifeboats, then described the £160,000
Atlantic 85 lifeboat which was made
operational on 27th February after a
short period of training to
familiarise the crew with her new
equipment. The Atlantic 85 is a rigid
inflatable lifeboat, introduced in the
latter half of 2005 as the latest
development of the B class. It has a
manually operated self-righting
mechanism. It is fitted with radar and
VHF direction finding equipment and
can be operated safely in daylight in
a force 6/7 and at night in a force
5/6. The Atlantic 85 has twin 115hp
engines and has a top speed of 35
knots. It can carry 4 crew. |
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The
Atlantic 85 was funded by the late Mrs
Betty Battle who died in 2006. Mrs
Battle also funded the Atlantic 75
lifeboat Betty Battle in 1995 and
the D Class lifeboat, Amanda, James
& Ben, which was paced on station
in 2005. The new Atlantic 85
Derrick Battle, is named after Mrs
Battle's husband who died in 1997 and
replaces the Betty Battle which
has been sold to Dorset Police to be
used during the 2012 Olympic sailing
events at Weymouth. |
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Derrick & Betty's son, Jonathan
Battle and one of their grand
daughters, Amanda Chitty, then
handed over the lifeboat to Rear
Admiral Stacey CBE who was
representing the RNLI.
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Jonathan Battle said, "My
mother’s final wishes have now
been realised - thanks to
everyone who has made that
possible. This is the third boat
donated by my mother, after many
years of fundraising for the
RNLI as a whole. The donation
from 13 years ago, of a B class
lifeboat, brought her in direct
contact with this station. She
took a great interest in it and
its individuals. She greatly
admired the commitment, bravery
and dedication of all the
volunteers and, inspired by
their work, she decided to
donate, in 2005, a smaller, more
manoeuvrable D class lifeboat,
and this was named after her
grandchildren Amanda, James and
Ben. |
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Amanda
Chitty & Jonathan Battle |
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Hayling
Island RNLI meant so much to my
mother, she loved coming down from
Ashstead to Hayling, and was always
made to feel part of the RNLI family.
During her illness, she had lots of
support from friends and family,
everyone at the station played their
part in giving her the drive to fight
her cancer. Her trips here revitalised
her; you fussed and spoiled her, and
made her feel special. I would like to
thank you all again for that. My
sister, Sally, myself and our family
are extremely proud of our family and
their support of this vital service
provided by the RNLI." |
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Rear
Admiral Stacey CBE accepted the
lifeboat on behalf of the RNLI. He
then handed the lifeboat, and, on
behalf of the late Ray & Audry Lusty,
the lifeboat station to Nigel Roper,
Lifeboat Operations Manager, Hayling
Island. Rear Admiral Stacey CBE said,
"‘The primary donor for the boathouse
was the Lusty family. Audrey and Ray
were among the strongest members of
our working committee. Neither of them
had any particular interest in the
sea, other than enjoying coming to it
on holiday, but they fell in love with
matters maritime through the RNLI.
When Audrey died, he continued working
even harder for the institution,
until, when he died, it was disclosed
they had left everything to the RNLI." |
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Rear
Admiral Michael Stacey CBE &
NigelRoper |
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Nigel
Roper said in an earlier statement,
‘We have been very
fortunate at the station to benefit
from the kindness and generosity of
families who were determined to
support the RNLI’s fundamental aim of
saving lives at sea." |
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The
Reverend Mary Thomas, Chaplain to
Hayling Island Lifeboat Station then
conducted the service of dedication.
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Peter
Glasby then invited John Grumbridge
and Pippa Stevens to unveil the
commemorative plaque and declare the
boathouse open. Pippa Stevens who made
a donation to the RNLI in memory of
her late parents, said, "I am
delighted to be here today,
representing family and friends who
contributed, in memory of my parents,
to the extension of Hayling Island
lifeboat station.
My father was in the
Royal Naval Reserve, and he and my
mother sailed in Chichester Harbour
for many years. For some time after he
died, my mother moved to live in Bosham, which she did for the rest of
her life. So, they would have been
delighted to be associated with this
lifeboat station and very proud
indeed." |
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Gwendoline
Prince, who died in March 2007, also
left a legacy to the RNLI. Mrs Prince was
represented at the ceremony by her
sister, Lilian Grumbridge and her
nephew John Grumbridge, who is
one of the shore helpers at Hayling
Island Lifeboat station.
John said, "My aunt Gwendoline took
the ‘Lifeboat’ magazine all the time,
read it avidly, and would ask all
manner of questions. I can’t tell you
how privileged I feel to be
representing our crew and my
family to open this wonderful
facility, which I promise you, we will
cherish." The station also has another
reminder of Gwendoline’s kindness
after a new launching tractor was
named after her. |
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John
Grumbridge & Lilian Grumbridge |
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James Chitty, Derrick & Betty's eldest
grandson, then named the new Atlantic
85, Derrick
Battle. Which was then launched
for a short demonstration along with
the D Class lifeboat Amanda,
James & Ben. This was followed by
the cutting of a celebration cake. |
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