Four make waves for the lifeboats

JOAN HALKYARD (chairman of Saddleworth Lifeboat Guild), receives the cheque from Emily McKee, along with Guy Kippen (left) and Chris Massey

FOUR young friends involved in a rescue by lifeboats as seas began to pound their vessel are making a £1,200 donation to RNLI funds.

There was drama off the coast of Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, aboard a friend’s 40ft yacht when a crew member injured his ankle and had to be taken to hospital.

And then heading for Pwllheli, when the yacht’s steering cable broke. A lifeboat turned out and the stricken boat was towed to safety in heavy winds conditions.

The four and seven others had been taking part in the Cork Regatta and now Chris Massey (25) from Mossley, Alice Walton (22) and Emily McKee (24) from Greenfield, and Emily’s boyfriend Guy Kippen (22), have been busy working on their own lifeboat thank-you.

All four are members of Dovestone Sailing Club at Greenfield and they organised a barbecue, social evening and auction at the club.

Emily, who is training to be an architect, said: “Often people in Saddleworth wonder why people raise money, here in a landlocked location, for a sea-based charity.

“We wanted to raise awareness of how the RNLI is always on hand for anyone who gets into difficulty at sea, no matter what the activity is, or where they come from, or how serious the incident.

“In our second incident, the yacht was sailing back to Pwllheli with a reduced crew.

“Early in the morning off the coast of the Irish Republic, in windy and wavy conditions, the steering cable broke.

“The crew was able to fix the emergency steering arrangement and headed carefully to the nearest port.

“They called ahead to alert the harbourmaster at Rosslare and due to the fact that it was a ferry port, and so not suitable for a yacht, the RNLI was sent out to tow us in.

“When we got home we all started thinking about how we could give something back to the RNLI. Without its help things could have ended differently.

“We want to thank everyone who attended the event and contributed, whether through buying tickets, extra donations, or winning something at the promise auction.”

The cheque from the four friends will be officially presented to the Saddleworth Ladies’ Lifeboat Guild at the White Hart, Lydgate, on Sunday, October 12.