A father and daughter from North Yorkshire might have to cancel their Christmas dinner this year, as they're both on call to save lives at sea as RNLI lifeboat volunteers.
Lee and Eleanor Jackson, a father and daughter who volunteer at Staithes and Runswick RNLI will be on call together on Christmas day for their local lifeboat.
Lee is a Helm at Staithes and Runswick RNLI - in charge of the safety of the lifeboat and its crew on missions - has volunteered at the lifeboat station for over 30 years. In his day-to-day life he's a ship’s pilot for the river Tees and Hartlepool. His daughter Eleanor is a Police Community Support Officer with North Yorkshire Police and joined the lifeboat station last June.
Read more: Hartlepool RNLI Lifeboat helps rescue person from the North Sea
Lee explained: "I’m immensely proud of Eleanor, as I am of all the volunteers at Staithes and Runswick RNLI. Eleanor and I get to spend time together doing something that we both enjoy which is rewarding at the same time. For Eleanor to be part of the lifeboat crew ‘family’ with me is great. On the lifeboat is about the only time she does what I ask her to do!
"This year we’ll both be working shifts in our day jobs over the festive season. We’re having our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve to suit our shifts. If the pagers go off though, we’ll put the turkey on hold and will be tripping over each other to get out of the door. The volunteer crew at Staithes are used to being on call day and night, no matter what the weather and Christmas is no exception."
Lee added: "There’s no feeling quite like bringing someone home safe to their families – especially at Christmas. Our team couldn’t rescue people without kind donations from the public which fund their kit, training, and equipment that they need to save others and get home safely to their families."
Meanwhile on Tyneside a mother and daughter at Cullercoats RNLI, Anna and Kay Heslop, will be on call together for the first time at Christmas.
Kay always supported her daughter’s volunteering and regularly helped out with fundraising at the station. However, this year she joined the operational team when she took on the role of volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager.
Kay explained: "Before I became Lifeboat Operations Manager at Cullercoats RNLI, I’d sometimes drive Anna to call-outs and one year she got paged around 4.40am on Christmas morning. I dropped her off at the lifeboat station and distinctly remember standing outside in the moonlight in my pyjamas!"
Over the past five years in the North and East, RNLI lifeboats have launched over 80 times during the festive season and helped 36 people. Nationwide, RNLI lifeboats have been launched more than 1,200 times during the festive period in the last decade.
This Christmas many of the charity’s volunteers, including those at Staithes and Runswick, will leave their loved ones behind to answer the call, each time hoping to reunite another family and see those in trouble at sea safely returned.
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The RNLI launched its Christmas appeal this week with the charity asking for help to continue its lifesaving work at sea.
To make a donation to the RNLI’s Christmas Appeal, or to find out more, please visit: RNLI.org/Xmas
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