Charity, Poole | Posted on March 25th, 2024 | return to news
Poole lifeboat stalwart signs RNLI 200th anniversary scroll
Poole lifeboat’s longest serving operational volunteer, Jonathan Clark, has signed the RNLI 200th anniversary scroll on behalf of Poole Lifeboat Station.
The 200th anniversary scroll is being taken to RNLI communities throughout the country to be signed at each location on its route. After being welcomed at Poole Lifeboat Station – the oldest RNLI station in Dorset – it was signed by Jonathan Clark on 23 March.
“To know that I am signing on behalf of the station is a great honour and I sign for those that went before, for those here now and for those that will follow, like my daughter, who is third generation lifeboat crew,” said Jonathan.
From a Poole fishing and lifeboat family, Jonathan followed his father onto the crew in the early 1980s when he was 16 years old, and the lifeboat station was based at Salterns. By the age of 18, Jonathan became a helm and served as coxswain from 1998 to 2016 on the 33’ Brede Class lifeboat and latterly the all-weather ‘City of Sheffield’ Tyne class lifeboat. He was a helm on the D class inshore lifeboat until his 55th birthday and now continues as a busy helm on the Atlantic lifeboat.
Recently, he received his 40-year RNLI long-service medal at a special RNLI 200th reception at the Guildhall from the Worshipful Mayor of Poole, Councillor Jo Clements.
Jonathan has worked in and around the harbour all his life, from charter fishing boat skipper, delivering Sunseekers, to skilled rope work. When he’s not volunteering, he works for Poole Harbour Commissioners as a pilot boat coxswain and lightman sharing an affinity with the first coxswain of Poole Lifeboat, Richard Sutton Stokes (coxswain from 1865-1886), who for 37 years was the lightkeeper at Sandbanks. Part of Jonathan’s job is that he is responsible for safe navigation through the harbour, as he maintains the navigation lights, making sure they are flashing in the correct sequence.
Of his long service with the RNLI Jonathan said: “Over the past 40 plus years of service, I have seen a lot of change in the equipment we use; with boat design; technology and training and so on. What hasn’t changed is the commitment and dedication of volunteers, the support of families, employers and the public who donate the money.
“Our desire to help others has not changed. To be able to bring someone’s loved one safely back is something very humbling, when we launch, we go with humility, to help people who are strangers to us, that reach out and have called for help, in sometimes very harrowing conditions.
“I have launched and taken part in over a thousand plus shouts and have saved many lives, and sometimes, we can only do all that we physically can and sometimes it’s hard, but we go and I will continue to go when someone needs help, because I can.”
Jonathan had the privilege of being at the RNLI Westminster Abbey Thanksgiving service to mark the charity’s official 200th anniversary on 4 March. Here, the scroll began its journey and was carried in by lifeboat volunteers, including fellow Poole lifeboat crew Max Underhill. The scroll was signed by RNLI President, HRH The Duke of Kent as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dean of Westminster, the RNLI’s chair and the RNLI’s chief executive.
Over the course of seven months, the five-metre-long scroll will pass through 240 RNLI locations around the UK and Ireland before finishing its journey in October at Douglas on the Isle of Man, which was home to the RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary.
The pledge on the anniversary scroll reads: ‘Whoever we are, wherever we are from, we are one crew, ready to save lives. We’re powered by passion, talent, and kindness, like generations of selfless lifesavers before us. This is our watch, we lead the way, valuing each other, trusting each other, depending on one another, volunteering to face the storm together. Knowing that, with courage, nothing is impossible. That is what has always driven us to save everyone we can. It’s what makes every one of us a lifesaver.’
Poole lifeboat volunteers will continue to celebrate the RNLI’s 200th anniversary throughout the year with many events like the upcoming Easter egg trail through Poole Old Town from Good Friday to Sunday 14 April, curry night, Land Rover meet and the annual Open Day on 4 August. Keep an eye on social media for more event information and updates.
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