John and Marion Recognised for Helping to Save Lives at Sea

A husband and wife who moved to the island having had no previous involvement with the RNLI have been awarded medals for their long service to Port St Mary lifeboat station.

The medals are in recognition of their stunning 40 years of fundraising for the station, 

John and Marion moved to the island in 1980 and had no previous involvement with the RNLI but very quickly became involved at Port St Mary. At the time, the RNLI were testing various Radio Direction Finding apparatus and John very generously funded the purchase of such a unit for the then Arun Class all–weather lifeboat.

John always wanted the crew to have the best equipment to perform their duties and often affectionately refers to them as ‘his crew.’

Over the years John has held the position of Treasurer and membership secretary of the branch. John and Marion are familiar figures attending any lifeboat function. When away on holiday in their motorhome, John and Marion have visited well over 150 lifeboat stations around the coast of the British Isles as well as RNLI College and All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, Dorset.

John is proud of the fact that he is a life governor of the RNLI.

The volunteer crews of both the all–weather lifeboat and the inshore lifeboat and all Branch officials wanted to show how much they have appreciated John and Marion’s tireless efforts over the last40 years.