Coast Patrol attend the Houses of Parliament
Felixstowe Coast Patrol were kindly invited to join their fellow Independent Lifeboat Charities from around the UK at the Houses of Parliament on 16th October. The event was organised by MP Mims Davies, and was also attended by the Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani, as well as our own MP Therese Coffey. This was the first event of it’s kind, and one which everyone thought was well overdue and very helpful indeed. It was great to share stories with our colleagues, as well as idea’s and best practices, hopefully this will be the first of many meetings together in the future!
Last Order's saves four lives in her first month of service!
Since we regularly started using Last Order’s for our patrols last month, she has already saved four lives at sea. Can you put a price on a life? If you could, she has certainly more than paid for herself already, despite having many more years of service left to come. It just goes to show the importance of donations and legacies that we heavily rely on.
If any press would like more details then please get in touch via email.
Ipswich Maritime Festival another great success!
Once again this year, Felixstowe Coast Patrol were kindly invited to attend the Ipswich Maritime Festival and showcase our new boat ‘Last Orders’. We had a great deal of interest in our service and how we serve our community, as well as those who were interested in volunteering. But a special thank you to everyone that helped us raise money and to those of you that generously donated to our cause, thank you!
Official Base Opening & Last Order's Naming Ceremony
On Sunday 14th we all enjoyed a great day for our charity, the official opening of our new base, as well as the naming ceremony for our new lifeboat, Last Order’s.
Thank you to everyone that attended and contributed to the day, and especially to those that have helped us get this far!
The day was attended by Felixstowe’s Town Mayor and the High Sheriff for Suffolk, and the base was officially opened by the store manager for the East of England Co-Op in Felixstowe, and the christening of Last Order’s was carried out by none other than Jo Wenham, who along with her late husband have been pivotal in us having the great opportunity of bringing this great new asset to the service.
Last Order’s will prove to be a huge benefit to the service and the whole community, with her state of the art technology on-board and greater capabilities, she will prove to be a real life saver for years to come.
The Felix Stowaways Drum up a Storm at the Shanty Cafe 2019
In April, The Felix Stowaways and many other shanty bands from home and abroad came together at the Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club for the Shanty cafe 2019. A great time was had by all and some excellent singing along, so we’re told! Through this event they were able to raise some money which they kindly donated to Felixstowe Coast patrol. We thank everyone that were involved.
East of England Co-Op Funeral Services Backs Coast Patrol!
Thank you to everyone at the East of England Funeral Services for recently donating £750 to Felixstowe Coast Patrol. We are proud to be associated with this great company, and work alongside them and support their services when we can. If you would like more information on how we can help scatter the ashes of a loved one at sea, please see our ‘About Us’ page and contact us via this website.
@eoecoop
Amazing Support from Zurich Community Trust
All of our volunteers come from varying backgrounds and industries, one of which works for the Zurich Group as an Engineer Surveyor. Zurich actually have their own grant giving charity, in the form of the Zurich Community Trust, which supports local and national charities across the UK and overseas. We're very pleased to say that the Zurich Community Trust have recently pledged to support Felixstowe Coast Patrol with an amazing grant of £2000. This will go a long way to providing the vital life saving equipment that we need to keep our local area and people much safer, and demonstrates Zurich's commitment to the communities that they live and work among. A spokesperson for the Zurich Community Trust commented...
‘We’re passionate about supporting those vulnerable within our communities and with our volunteering and grant programmes, we’re committed to making a difference together through the charities we support. Our communities are heavily reliant on those vital frontline services local charities provide, so it gives us great pleasure to award organisations such as Felixstowe Volunteer Coast Patrol & Rescue Service with the necessary funding they need to continue the amazing work that they do.’
Our charity and our volunteers are extremely grateful for their support. You can find out more about Zurich Community Trust below and on their website
Zurich Community Trust, a UK registered charity funded by an annual donation from the Zurich UK businesses and by generous donations from Zurich’s employees, provides an umbrella for all Zurich’s community involvement in the UK.
Since its inception in 1973, Zurich Community Trust has donated over £90 million. Its grant programme addresses key social issues and works to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged people. Last year, the Trust supported over 600 charities across the UK and overseas, improving the quality of life of over 130,000 disadvantaged people.
The Zurich Community Trust also brokers a wide range of volunteering opportunities for UK employees engaging c. 40% of the Zurich UK workforce in sharing their time and skills with the community each year. Last year the Trust brokered over 4,000 days of volunteering from Zurich UK employees.
Visit Zurich Community Trust’s website on www.zct.org.uk for more details.
Twitter : @ZCTrust
Facebook : facebook/zurichcommunitytrust
Instagram : _ZCTrust
Youtube : Youtube
Snapchat : Zurichct
Hashtag : #LoveZCT
Felixstowe Photographic Society Raise Funds For Coast Patrol
The Felixstowe Photographic Society members have generously raised funds at their annual dinner and awards evening, and have kindly donated the proceeds from their raffle to Felixstowe Coast Patrol. We would like to sincerely thank them all for their support, not only to us but the whole community. Please check out some of their work at www.felixstowephotographic.org.uk.
Go Orange! for Independent Lifeboats - 22/23 March
This March we are inviting our friends and supporters to Go Orange, in support of the UK‘s Independent Lifeboats. On Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd, we ask that local schools and businesses support our service by having a little fun by allowing everyone to wear something orange, and donate £1 to Felixstowe Coast Patrol.
We can provide collection tins if needed, and would be delighted to receive your photos and stories that we can share on our website and social media. We may even be able to provide further support should it be required, just drop us an email. A great opportunity to make a real difference and get your school, business or organisation recognised by our community.
The idea is simple, but allows everyone to make a real difference. We very much appreciate your support.
ABP Ipswich Continues their support of Felixstowe Coast Patrol
ABP Ipswich have continued their excellent support of Felixstowe Coast Patrol for 2019, providing vital funds to support the service, enabling us to protect the community around the rivers, marinas and out at sea. Their backing is really appreciated by our volunteers, and benefits by all of those that use the River Orwell. Our sincere thanks to everyone at ABP. See their full article on their website here… http://www.abports.co.uk/newsarticle/761/
First Trials for Last Order's
Our new lifeboat Last Order’s, has been in the water for the very first time undergoing initial engine trials. This is an extremely exciting time for the charity and a huge milestone. She is fitted with the most advanced equipment which will be an excellent addition and will really help us keep our area even safer than before.
This is all thanks to Jo and Len Wenham, and everyone else who have contributed. Keep checking for details of the official launch party!
New Year's Day Fund Raiser A Great Success!
Once again this new years day, John White, the Deben Estuary Harbour Master very kindly gave up his time to support Felixstowe Coast Patrol by ferrying people across the harbour and donating the proceeds to our charity. John and everyone that contributed raised an incredible £1222. We sincerely thank John and everyone who supported us that day.
End of Year Report & Awards Received.
Once again we’ve had a very busy year on and off the water. Highlights have been progressing with our new boat, Last Order’s, which is nearing completion (again, thanks to Jo and Len Wenham for their unbelievable generosity and patience), as well as moving into our new HQ, thanks to the East of England Co-op. On top of all this, one of our Coxwains, Jon Harvey, was awarded by the Royal Humane Society for his bravery in rescuing someone from the water in Ipswich Marina, as well an award at the Stars of Suffolk.
On the water we have had another busy year, with highlights listed below…
5 lives saved
810 hours of volunteers free time given to the community (not including training and Flood Alerts)
An estimated 2480 miles covered on routine patrols, rescues and training.
32 casualty situations involving 75 people (and one dog) With a further 52 incidents involving 97 persons and one Deer (total assisted 172 persons).
Volunteer was tasked by HM Coastguard on 20 separate occasions, and a further 16 times by the Police or other authorities.
The fine weather certainly brought out a lot of people to the coast and we saw a vast variety of incidents and potential issues this year, but thankfully many further issues were avoided due to Volunteer being on the scene quickly and providing the advice to the public that keeps them safe.
Christmas Lights Raise Funds for Felixstowe Coast Patrol
You may have seen recently that Mike Talbot in Felixstowe has covered his house and garden in Christmas lights in order to raise money for EACH and Felixstowe Coast Patrol.
Go and have a look and help Mike raise some funds! Here is the local news article…https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/east-anglian-childrens-hospice-and-felixstowe-volunteer-coast-partol-resuce-service-supported-by-christmas-lights-1-5803270
Thank you Mike, you're giving Clark Griswold a run for his money!!
'Last Orders' Almost Ready for Trials, our sincere thanks to Len & Jo Wenham
As we reach the end of the year, we also near the end of our wait for our new boat, Last Order’s, to be finished and be ready for engine trials.
It has taken much work and time to raise enough funds to finish Last Order’s and have the work done to get her to specification. All of this was only made possible by the very generous donation from Len and Jo Wenham, and we’re sure that their generosity and foresight will ensure that our local community will benefit from this new boat for many years to come.
Jo and Len were landlords at various pubs in the local area (hence the name Last Order’s), and had a love of being on the water. We and the community will forever be in their debt for their kindness in getting this project underway. Very sadly, Len passed away recently and will not have the pleasure of seeing his legacy on the water, but no doubt he would have been proud, and Jo will be the guest of honour at the launch party.
‘Volunteer’ will remain with the service and be used for training and additional events that will require our services, whilst allowing us to operate as normal with Last Order’s.
New HQ for Felixstowe Coast Patrol
East of England Co-op Provides new HQ for Felixstowe Coast Patrol, with help from Homebase and Hughes Electrical.
Felixstowe Coast Patrol have finally moved into our new HQ in Felixstowe. The East of England Co-op have very generously given over some space at their Felixstowe depot, which now allows us to store our boats & equipment, as well as have dedicated training rooms, a map room and an area for our volunteers to socialise together.
We give a sincere thank you to the East of England Co-op and their staff, for their very generous and much needed generosity and for making us feel very welcome. We look forward to welcoming them into the HQ to see what we’ve done with the place after much hard work from our volunteers!
We also give our thanks to Homebase and Hughes Electrical for their help in providing materials and equipment to decorate and kit out the new HQ, this has been a huge help, thank you to everyone that helped.
Finally, we would also like to thank the River of Life Church in Felixstowe for giving us the space to store our boats and equipment the last couple of years when we really needed the help, thank you.
Ipswich Maritime Festival
A very busy weekend at the Ipswich Maritime Festival saw us collect over £420 for the service, which is a great achievement. Many thanks to all those that donated and to those that came to see us and our new boat, 'Last Orders'. Hopefully you found out more about what we do and how we help our community.
Felixstowe Book Festival
Felixstowe Coast Patrol were in attendance at the Felixstowe Book Festival 2018. During a balmy weekend down at Landguard Viewpoint our crew were on hand to provide interesting stories and history of the area, as well as show off our new boat 'Last Orders', as well as numerous paper cuttings and historical documents relating to the area and the seafaring community.
During this weekend we raised more than £360 from our very kind and generous supporters. These are vital funds to keep the service going and keep people safe, thank you to everyone that came to see us and kindly donated, it's very much appreciated by all the volunteers.
New Years Day Fundraising Event Felixstowe Ferry
Our particular local marine rescue charity relies almost solely on public donations to stay afloat.
Since 2004 the Bawdsey Foot Ferry has operated every New Years Day especially to raise funds for the Felixstowe Volunteer Coast Patrol Rescue Service.
This event has undoubtedly become something of a homage to many people and friends who religiously support the event. This year we enjoyed a bright dry day with so many people on both sides of the river awaiting the ferry that is was remininscent of 'Dunkirk'. John White - Felixstowe Ferry Harbour Master was presented with a service commemorative plaque in sincere recognition of his efforts over the years. (See above photo).
This New Years Day John, his wife Anne, Diane and Asst Harbour Master Stephen Read all helped to raise an amazing £1500 towards our funds. Thanks to donations such as this, the service was last year able to handle seventy-nine incidents involving eighty-one people and saved three lives. The highlights of the year were being given full responsibility for the safety and security of the River Owrell 'Olympic Torch Procession' and receiving the High Sheriffs Community Award.
May we sincerely wish all those who organised and supported the event, a very Happy New Year to you all.