As we are half through this extraordinary year, it seems fitting to summarise 2021 so far.

The first half of the year has been much busier than the same time last year with over 40 "shouts".

The call outs ('shouts') have been diverse, and often start with a concerned member of the public dialling 999 and asking for the Coastguard.

The all-volunteer crew at Teddington RNLI Lifeboat Station were tasked by the Coastguard to a variety of incidents, varying from searching the River Thames and riverbank for a missing person, to assisting with the safe evacuation of boat and houseboat dwellers on Platt's Eyot during a large fire on the island, and culminating in the very unusual incident of the juvenile minke whale who found her way upstream of her usual habitat, in the River Thames in Teddington.

This year has also been a very successful year of fundraising, with two comedy nights in Teddington and two silent auctions which raised £4,920. Thank you to all of the local businesses who donated some excellent auction prizes and to our amazing team of fundraisers.

If you would like to be part of our incredible fundraising team we would love to hear from you - click HERE for more details of the role.

The RNLI has a network of local fundraising teams organising a wide range of activities and events which last

year raised £14 million to save lives at sea. Find out more HERE

Tuesday night training for Teddington RNLI lifeboat crew has continued and has allowed the crew to hone their skills in boat handling, casualty care, including how to use an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and how to deal with the mental health of both the crew and the casualties they attend to.

Teddington RNLI are lucky to have Reverend Joe Moffatt of the church of St Mary with St Alban as lifeboat chaplain and this year as usual the RNLI celebrated the River Festival on Sunday 11 July with the congregation.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the service was [L] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzg4QHrXk-c [L+] livestreamed on YouTube .L].

Finally, the RNLI has a set of values which they strive to follow: Trustworthy, Courageous, Selfless and Dependable.

If you have passion, commitment and time, share these values and would like to volunteer as Teddington RNLI lifeboat crew please do get in touch.

As volunteer lifeboat crew, the team at Teddington RNLI operate on a pager system, which means any volunteer must live or work within three minutes of the lifeboat station, located opposite Teddington Lock, River Thames.

Contact Matt Allchurch, Lifeboat Operations Manager (LOM) for more details on: 07932 740 780.