Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat (PLIRB) is very pleased to share that their boathouse Open Day will take place on Sunday August 29.
The event is usually held around the final May bank holiday but, due to this year’s lockdown and restrictions in the spring, it could not go ahead at that time. After being cancelled completely last year, the charity’s volunteers are extremely glad to announce that this year’s open day will go ahead on the August bank holiday weekend instead.
This event, which is the self-funded rescue charity’s major annual community fundraiser, promises all of the traditional open day fun. The event is free and runs from 11am to 3pm and includes games and activities as well as stalls from local businesses. There will also be refreshments, a bottle tombola and cake stall – with cake donated by local shops, cafes and tea rooms, plus a selection made by PLIRB volunteers and supporters after a generous donation of cake mixes from Green’s Cakes.
Other entertainments include performances from local duo Mat and Holly, and a sea display by the charity’s boat crews (time to be confirmed). The Grand Draw of the charity’s much-anticipated Hot Tub raffle will also take place at the event. The draw will be made by Stuart Homewood of local Rye business Homewood Leisure, who has donated the prize of a £5,000 hot tub. Sales of tickets for the raffle stalled throughout the lockdowns, but will be available at the event, right up until the time of the draw.
The PLIRB boathouse will be open to the public, with the chance to see both of the charity’s inshore rescue boats close up.
It’s also the first official public event for the charity’s newest Launch and Recovery Vehicle. This vehicle was purchased from independent rescue boat colleagues at Ryde Rescue, Isle of Wight and has since undergone a refurbishment and refit to customise it for the demands it faces when launching and recovering PLIRB boats across the steep shingle, risky rocks and sticky sands of Pett Level. This refit, costing in excess of £25,000 ,was only possible after a very successful fundraising campaign by the charity’s volunteers and the Open Day offers a great chance for the public to find out more about the scale, cost and demands on the equipment needed to provide an independent search and rescue service along this local coastline.
Community event
The community rescue boat also works alongside other local charities and two of those will also be present at the event.
Strandliners CIC, a voluntary organisation based in East Sussex, are well known in the local area for their environmental and conservation work, sometimes working alongside the PLIRB to remove pollution from the coastline.
With a focus on stopping plastic pollution, their stand will share information about their work and how the public can help. Weather and numbers permitting, they will also be providing beachcombing advice and activities, to encourage families to get involved in this type of volunteering, whilst having fun at the same time.
Volunteers from Rother’s Community First Responders (CFRs) will also be at the open day. Just as PLIRB volunteers are dedicated to preserving life along the coastline, the CFRs are dedicated to preserving the health of communities in Rother, East Sussex and surrounding areas.
The CFRs are glad to be a presence at the open day and will be demonstrating how to deal with immediately life threatening situations and how to use a defibrillator, as Rother CFR Tracy Pepler explains “we’re happy to be back at fetes to show people how CFRs support their community and fundraise for public access defibrillators.”
Everyone welcome
As a popular open day there will be lots going on involving local community causes and businesses. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event and Chair of the PLIRB charity, Kev Nuttall looks forward to welcoming as many people as possible.
“I cannot tell you how relieved we are as a group to be able to run our open day this year. It’s the biggest fundraiser we have and we suffered greatly through not being able to hold it last year … it was a massive fundraising effort that just disappeared. That’s the same as every other charity really, but as we are very small it’s extremely important to us. The open day is also important to us because it’s a chance to talk to so many members of the public that we wouldn’t normally see. We can explain what we do, have a chat, talk about the local areas and beach hazards .. again that’s something that we just haven’t been able to do quite so frequently over the last 18 months.”
“So all in all, weather-permitting, we hope to have a wonderful day. We’d love to see as many people as possible, and we’d love people to come up, say hello and find out more about the rescue boat. And to anyone looking to volunteer, I’d say this is a great chance to find out what we do. Everyone here’s a volunteer and there are lots of roles across all our activities so, if you fancy joining us, we’d love to have you, just pop along to our open day to find out more.”
- If you would like to know more about Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat, please visit plirb.com.
- If you would like to know more about Strandliners, please visit: strandliners.org.
- If you would like to know more about Community First Responders, please visit: rotherresponders.org.uk.
Image Credits: PLIRB , Katherine Crowther .