Inland lifeboat station marks 40th anniversary

A lifeboat station is celebrating 40 years of saving lives on the UK's inland waterways.

Severn Area Rescue Association (Sara) was founded in the 1970s, and opened a lifeboat station at Sharpness in 1986.

Crew members hosted an open day at its site earlier to give the public a behind-the-scenes glimpse of its history and equipment, as well as rescue demonstrations.

One long-time volunteer said saving lives was "a feeling that can't be equalled by anything else".

Alan Palmer, training manager, has been a crew member at the station since it was founded.

"We started off with a very small crew and a very small boat and it's grown into the organization that it is now," he said.

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Sharpness was only the second of Sara's lifeboat stations, it now has seven and is the second biggest lifeboat provider in the country after the RNLI.

Palmer's son Dave has followed in his footsteps, and is chief operations officer of the station.

"There was no question in my mind that I was going to do anything other than join Sara," he said.

Asked what keeps him at Sara, he replied: "The people. Definitely the people. It's great to do what we do. It's great to help the community.

"When we're saving lives, it's a feeling that can't be equalled by anything else, but the day-to-day interactions with the rest of the crew, we're such a tight-knit bunch here that it's just a great place to be."

Paramedic Liv Thornton joined Sara aged 13 after being inspired by her father who was also a member.

"It's so rewarding, you're with a massive group of people that are always willing to help each other out and you know you can call on them for anything," she said.

"But also you know that you're giving back to the community that's helped you as well."

The crews are regularly called out to help find vulnerable missing people, and she said the team was always there to support one another following a "rough call".

"When you know that someone's affected, maybe more so because the missing person is similar to one of their own family members, you know you've got to reach out to make sure they're okay," she said.

"I think it's the tight-knit community we have that just really helps."

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