On this day, the RNLI is recognising all the women who have been saving lives at sea, launching and building lifeboats, and playing an integral part in maintaining the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) as a world-class lifesaving service.
The International Day for Women in Maritime (18 May) was officially established by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to recognise and amplify the contributions of women working within the maritime industry. It is intended to promote recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women within the maritime sector while raising the profile of women already in the industry.
For over 200 years, women have helped shape the charity into the mighty lifesaving service it is today. By learning and developing new skills, meeting new people within their communities and sharing their experiences, women in a huge variety of roles across the RNLI are helping the charity in its lifesaving mission.
Across the UK and Ireland, these roles include lifeboat crew, tractor drivers, lifeguards, shore crew and Lifeboat Operation Managers, as well as fundraisers, water safety and shop volunteers plus many others who make the RNLI’s prevention and rescue work possible.
In celebration of the day, RNLI is highlighting a recent achievement for Swanage lifeboat crew member, Alice Haw, who recently passed out as a helm on the station’s inshore lifeboat. Alice has volunteered with the station for eight years, after growing up watching her dad, retired Swanage coxswain Christopher Haw, out on the lifeboat.
Alice Haw, Swanage RNLI Lifeboat Station volunteer said: “This has been the result of months of hard work, and I’m proud that it’s all paid off and that I’m going to be able to use this opportunity to give back to the local community.”
Returning to town following a move away, Alice joined the RNLI crew in Swanage eight years ago, where she serves as a volunteer crew member, and navigator on both the all-weather lifeboat (ALB), George Thomas Lacy, and the Inshore lifeboat, Roy Norgrove.
Find out more information about volunteering opportunities within the RNLI here.
