Following a high-profile campaign to garner support for an independent crew and lifeboat station and raise funds to buy an all-weather lifeboat, Senator Sarah Ferguson has put forward a proposition calling for the States to endorse the plans.
The petition was organised by the Jersey Independent Lifeboat Committee, which was formed last year after the RNLI sacked the St Helier crew and closed the town lifeboat station following a long-running dispute.
Former Deputy Sean Power, who is a member of the committee, said that if the States supported the petition it would further the credibility of the campaign.
‘The final number of signatures was nearly 7,000, which is a good number, even by Jersey standards. There is a lot of support for the project,’ he said.
‘We have some legal issues to go through and we are hoping that the Royal Court will register a charity to fund the project this week. We are also close to finding a boat.’
In her proposition accompanying the petition, which is not asking for financial support from the States, Senator Ferguson said: ‘This petition does not seek to rehearse all the problems which have led up to this situation.
‘Instead it is intended to concentrate on moving forward to establish an independent all-weather lifeboat station in Jersey, supported by the local population and providing the lifeboat service for the Island, by the Island and financed by the Island.’
Since the split, the St Helier inshore lifeboat has been crewed with a mix of RNLI St Catherine members and firefighters. The charity is training volunteers to crew the all-weather lifeboat, which is expected to be back in full service in March.
Meanwhile, speaking in a new year’s message posted on the RNLI website, the organisation’s director of community lifesaving, Leesa Harwood, said that the charity had had successes in Jersey last year despite its conflict with the St Helier crew.
‘In the midst of the noise at St Helier, the crew at St Catherine’s lifeboat station did a great job of recruiting new volunteers,’ she said.
‘In November we set up the first integrated RNLI/Fire and Rescue crew, with Fire and Rescue and RNLI volunteers training together and working together to crew the St Helier ILB [inshore lifeboat].’
Ms Harwood also praised the conduct of the St Catherine’s crew, saying: ‘I see thousands of people who when challenged with scrutiny from people outside the RNLI, like the team here at St Catherine’s, hold their heads high, do the RNLI proud and, even though it’s not the easy thing, they do the right thing.
‘This afternoon I am going off to St Helier and I will be welcoming our prospective new crew members and I will tell them this: How proud they should be to stand shoulder to shoulder with the most extraordinary group of lifesavers in the world.’
Senator Ferguson’s proposition is due to be debated on 20 February.
