Splash Swim school hosted a gala style mini-Olympics on 19 October, raising £145 for Exmouth RNLI. Splash Swim school teachers and parents volunteered their time to host a competitive event at Middlemoor giving children from as young as four, the opportunity to compete in swimming races.

26 children attended and all received a medal for entry, competing in the main strokes: front crawl; back crawl; butterfly and breaststroke. Depending on their age and ability, the competitors raced half lengths, full lengths, two lengths and took part in a fun woggle race. Points were earned for first, second and third places and the swimmer with the most points in each age category won a plaque, with the top three swimmers receiving certificates.

Students and teachers visited Exmouth RNLI on 22 October, one month on from when they raised money to remember Harry Patch and the role he played in World War one. Students raised £360.64 from a cake bake, poetry writing and creating a montage portrait of Harry Patch from a number of photos of him as a young soldier.

Harry Patch was the last surviving soldier known to have fought in the trenches of the first World War and briefly the oldest man in Europe.  He fought at the Battle of Passchendaele and was injured in the groin when a shell exploded overhead on 22 September 1917. It killed three of his comrades, he was only 19. Patch referred to 22 September as his personal Remembrance Day.

Exmouth will be one of the first lifeboat stations in the country to receive an innovative new class of RNLI lifeboat, the Shannon.

The new £1.5m lifeboat will replace Exmouth’s current RNLI Mersey class lifeboat, Margaret Jean, when she completes her operational time in Devon in around 12 months time.  The cost of the new lifeboat will be met by a legacy but an appeal is starting today (Monday 15 October) to help fund the new launching and recovery vehicle that is essential to move the lifeboat to and from the sea.

Exmouth RNLI’s new lifejackets were put into practice on Saturday 6 October. Funded entirely by donations, both inshore and all-weather lifeboat designs had been delivered in August.

It took a month for the crew to familiarise themselves with the new kit before using them under emergency conditions. Each crew volunteer was individually trained and had to be able to demonstrate the correct use, repacking and maintenance of both types of lifejacket before the station could change over from the old designs.

The first of three Exmouth RNLI volunteers to tie the knot this summer, Andrew Stott (35) is in his sixteenth year as a crew member at Exmouth RNLI.

He joined the crew following his older brother, Karl and was subsequently followed by his twin brother, Roy. During his service he has received the Golden Jubilee medal and more recently the Queens Diamond Jubilee medal. Andrew now works in maritime security as a coxswain of an armed patrol vessel in the Middle East, as do his brothers.

Helmsman Roger Jackson was presented with The Lady Swaythling Trophy at the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society’s annual Skill and Gallantry Awards, which recognise the UK’s unsung heroes who risk their lives in dangerous sea and air rescues, on October 2.

This award follows the presentation of Roger’s RNLI bronze medal for Gallantry in May for the same rescue, which took place on October 23, 2011. Roger’s fellow crew volunteers Mark Champion and Andy Williams received the thanks of the Institution on Vellum during a ‘thank you’ meal, cooked by Roger at the boathouse in July.

Roger’s second award, this time granted by an outside body, demonstrates the recognition of the skill and gallantry that RNLI crew volunteers display every day, throughout the UK.

The son of Patricia Treeby handed over a cheque for £500 to Exmouth RNLI on 9 September. The money was raised from donations in lieu of flowers from her funeral on 24 August at St. Peter’s Chapel, Exeter Crematorium.

As a life-long supporter of the charity that saves lives at sea, a further legacy is promised. Legacies are most important to the RNLI that funds six out of every ten lifeboat launches using gifts left in wills. In two recent campaigns, the charity is creating awareness of the importance of making a will: ‘Remember the RNLI week’ and offering free wills during the month of October.