Whitby: New lifeboat to carry the names of 10,000 people

Thousands of people are to be commemorated by having their names placed on the hull of a new lifeboat as part of a fundraising campaign.

The new £2.5m Shannon lifeboat is being built for the RNLI station in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

The all-weather vessel has been bought thanks to a donation left to the charity in a will.

Coxswain Harold Fields said the boat would be "fast and agile" and reach people in danger more quickly.

People can request that the name of a loved one is added to the hull of the boat in exchange for a donation to the charity as part of its Launch a Memory campaign. There will be space for up to 10,000 names.

The vessel will replace the station's current Trent class lifeboat, the George and Mary Webb.

Mr Fields from Whitby RNLI lifeboat station said: "The crew here at Whitby are very excited to be receiving a Shannon class lifeboat - she'll be fast and agile and equipped with the latest technology to help us get to those in danger more quickly.

"Knowing it's a Launch a Memory boat, carrying the names of thousands of people's loved ones, makes the boat even more special - the names of those individuals will be there with us every time we launch."

The vessel will be built at the RNLI centre in Poole, Dorset, and is expected to be delivered to the North Yorkshire lifeboat station by the end of 2023.

A lifeboat crew has been in operation in Whitby for more than 200 years. Since it opened, the lifeboat has launched 2,909 times and saved 1,234 lives, according to an RNLI spokesperson.

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