The Whitby Gazette ran a supplement on Friday entitled “We Love the Emergency Services” and very kindly split the advertising revenue gained from the supplement between all the local emergency services. 

RBRB is proud to have featured and very grateful to the Whitby Gazette for their support.

The services featured in the supplement included the local Police, Fire Brigades from Whitby, Goathland and Robin Hood’s Bay, the Ambulance Service, the RNLI from both Whitby and Staithes & Runswick, the local Coastguard teams, Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team, the ‘Helicopter Heroes’ including the RAF from Leconfield and the Great North and Yorkshire Air Ambulances and of course RBRB.

A copy of the RBRB section of the feature is  included as a link from the picture on the left, just in case you missed the original.

Here at the Rescue Boat we are gearing up for the 2012 season which will start in earnest from 6th April 2012 (Easter).  There has been a huge amount of work done throughout the winter and there will be some very visible new additions in the 2012 season (both kit and faces) and some new technology.

We are very much looking forward to showing our supporters how we continue to adapt.

The annual RBRB New Year Ball was held this year at the new and exclusive Raithwaite Hall Hotel on Friday 30th December 2011.

The evening was a resounding success and thoroughly enjoyed by all. Entertainment was provided in the way of live music from the Lee Smith Trio. More pictures to follow!

The fantastic sum of £1,000 was raised at a charity auction on Saturday 22nd October at the Runswick Bay Hotel. Robbie Stewart, landlord, auctioneer and organiser off the event, is splitting the funds between the local RNLI and RBRB. As a helmsman on the Runswick Bay Rescue Boat himself, Robbie was keen to acknowledge the invaluable help and support that has been given to RBRB by Whitby RNLI. “It is absolutely right that we raise money for all the local voluntary services and I particularly wanted to say thank you to Whitby RNLI because of everything they have done to help us” said Robbie.

The main auction lot was this beautiful, hand built, model of a Watson Class lifeboat, the same class as Whitby’s own Mary Ann Hepworth which remained in service until 1974. The donor, who built the model himself, wishes to remain anonymous although it is fitting that we thank him publicly here for such a generous donation.


Another auction lot was this stunning brass binnacle.

Robbie wishes to express his thanks to all of the donors and all of the bidders who combined to make the evening such a success.

A group of cubs from the 3rd and 6th Guisborough Scouts were treated to an educational talk by the crew of the Runswick Bay Rescue Boat on Saturday afternoon.

The cubs, who had been staying at Kettleness, walked along the Ceveland Way to Runswick Bay where they enjoyed lunch, fossil hunting and the teachings of RBRB’s new PR and Recruitment Officer, Robbie Stewart. In the picture above, Robbie explains the importance of safety at sea, the workings of the rescue boat and the need for volunteer services such as ours.

Later on the cubs were treated to a display of the capabilities of the boat, and the value of wearing appropriate sea survival kit, when Colin, one of the group leaders, ‘fell’ out of the rescue boat and needed to be ‘rescued’.

RBRB is very grateful for the donation and we hope that everyone benefited from the visit.

On Sunday 31st July at 9:50am the fast fisher ‘Silver Fox’ strayed onto rocks at the northern end of Runswick Bay on a falling tide. Runswick Bay Rescue Boat crew on shore readying for that day’s annual display launched to assist. The IRB (Inshore Rescue Boat) evacuated the boat’s two crew. When the tide finally turned, the boat was retrieved.

In the meantime while the tide was low, two children were brought to the boathouse after playing in sand near the shore requiring first aid. Both had grabbed weever fish and had been stung. First aid was administered by Runswick Bay Rescue Boat’s shore support crew. “This shows the dangers posed at low tides. Weever fish bury themselves just under the sand and if disturbed can inject a painful venom”

At 3:30pm the Runswick Bay Rescue boat began their annual display close to shore in the bay. A large crowd watched as the IRB crew demonstrated a variety of techniques used in a range of rescues. A pair of canoes, a sailing dinghy, and a fishing boat were’ rescued’ and the IRB crew demonstrated the boat’s extraordinary handling. Commentary by the Crew Leader kept the crowd informed as to what they were watching giving them facts about Runswick Bay Rescue Boat throughout the exercise.

This was the culmination to a very successful weekend of fundraising events which included a raft race, a visit by the Coble and Keelboat society and demonstrations of lobster pot making and Gansey knitting.

Runswick Bay Rescue Boat is a totally independent organisation and relies entirely on its own fundraising.

With the kind pemission of the MCA we have reproduced (left) a letter received recently from them.

There are volunteers, and their families, up and down the country who give their time generously to ensure that we all enjoy the safety net provided by volunteer emergency response services.

Whitby Gazette Online – Published on Tuesday 21 June 2011 11:00

TWO men on board a dinghy attempted to row it back to the shore at Runswick Bay after the engine failed.

Luckily a member of the public on the cliffs at Port Mulgrave spotted them at about 7.30pm on Monday and rang a crewman from the Runswick Bay Rescue Boat to ask advice.

A crew was immediately mustered and the Humber coastguard notified.

Runswick Bay Rescue Boat then launched to find a 15 foot fibreglass dinghy with a dead engine still being rowed in the direction of Runswick.

The two men onboard were safe, unharmed and well equipped with life jackets but faced with a long and tiring row to shore.

They gratefully accepted assistance and were towed safely to shore. The rescue boat was stood down at 8.10pm