Guernsey RNLI volunteers get Queen's service award

Volunteers at the St Peter Port RNLI have been chosen to receive The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the life-saving charity has said.

Station bosses said it was a "great honour" which "recognises that the whole station is run by volunteers".

Managers said it also recognised, not just crew members' service, but all volunteers, including their supporters.

The lifeboat station was established in 1803 and has responded to more than 1,500 shouts, staff said.

The award, created in 2002, was the group equivalent of being appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), the Queen's awards website said.

It had been "shining a light on the fantastic work of voluntary groups for many years", it added.

Jim Le Pelley, chairman of the lifeboat management group, said: "This is a great honour, which recognises that the whole station is run by volunteers."

He added it recognised not just the operational crew's service, but "all the volunteers of the station, including committee members, fundraisers and supporters, past and present, who have all contributed to saving lives at sea".

Lifeboat operations manager Chris Harvey added it had come after "a busy two years for the station".

He said: "Alongside our all-weather lifeboat, we are currently trialling the use of an inshore lifeboat for incidents closer to the cliffs and shore.

"This has meant the crew completing a significant amount of additional training to operate the new lifeboat in a year where we experienced the highest ever number of call outs."

As well as serving Guernsey, the St Peter Port station also provides a medical evacuation service for the islands of Herm and Sark.

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