Oban lifeboat needs you

Volunteers living or working in Oban are needed to join the crew of one of Scotland's busiest lifeboats.

 

The town's Trent Class all-weather lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald has been called out more than 60 times this year to help seafarers, support coastguard teams and work with the ambulance service to bring people from the islands to the mainland for

 

treatment.

 

Coxswain Ally Cerexhe is encouraging people aged between 17 and 65 who live or

 

work within ten minutes of the lifeboat station to get in touch.

 

‘We work as a close-knit team, ready day and night, every day of the year to

 

help save lives at sea. In this round of volunteer recruitment, we are particularly interested in hearing from people based in Oban who have good availability between Monday and Friday during working hours.’

 

Ally added: ‘Successful applicants who have passed the medical and fitness tests

 

begin their training at the lifeboat station in Oban. This involves getting to know the lifeboat and the personal protective equipment they will have to wear and use at sea.

 

‘Initially, people will go out on training exercises - often held on a Monday evening -

 

before being issued with a pager and, depending on the call-out, will be asked to join

 

more experienced crew members on shouts.’

 

Reaching so-called 'competent crew' stage usually takes between 12 and 18 months

 

depending on how often people can go out on exercise and how quickly they develop sea-going skills.

 

Ally said, as well as being a good team player and communicator, potential crew

 

members need to understand the role can be demanding.

 

‘Sometimes the taskings we go out to don’t turn out the way we would want them to. As

 

well as all the training, there’s a huge amount of support from the station and the wider

 

RNLI to help everyone deal with any situation we come across.

 

‘Our volunteer roles can also give a great sense of satisfaction. It’s amazing when we

 

help people and have successful outcomes and get people home safe. There’s a

 

feeling of accomplishment. It's a good way to give something back to our community.’

 

Interested in applying? Go to www.rnli.org and click on ‘volunteering'.

 

Caption: Oban RNLI Coxswain Ally Cerexhe on board Oban’s Trent Class all-weather lifeboat Mora Edith MacDonald.

 

Picture:  Stephen Lawson/RNLI