Penlee Lifeboat

14/06/2026

An update on the previous post about The Old Lifeboat House holding a coffee morning to support Penlee RNLI. The totals have been added and they have raised £500 in the restaurant with an additional £200 in the collecting buckets. Our thanks to Jon, Emily and Julia and their staff for the support that will help Penlee’s RNLI volunteers save lives at sea.

13/06/2026

The Old Lifeboat House restaurant in Penzance held a coffee morning on 13 June 20026 to help raise funds for Penlee RNLI. Coxswain Neville Pittman and Mechanic ‘Woody’ Wood attended to support the event pictured with Jon and Emily Stephens and Julia Bolton. Our thanks for their support, which will help RNLI volunteers save lives at sea.

This beautifully built lifeboat house was erected in 1884 at a cost of £88. It is constructed from Lamorna granite and equipped with a small bell turret. It secured listed building status in 1987.

Pictures include the lifeboats, Dora, Elizabeth and Blanche and Richard Lewis being launched near The Old Lifeboat House.

12/06/2026

Penlee RNLI are immensely proud of our Eric Taylor who is chairman of our Penlee RNLI Fundraising Branch and who is now Eric Taylor BEM having been awarded a British Empire Medal in The King's Birthday Honours.

Congratulations Eric from us all at Penlee, you must be very proud.

Eric Taylor, Chair of the Penlee RNLI Fundraising Branch, who has dedicated more than 43 years to the RNLI has been recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours for his dedication and commitment to the lifesaving charity.

Eric has been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM).

The RNLI has been part of Eric’s family dating back to 1883, when his great-grandfather served as Coxswain on Padstow lifeboat, and his grandfather as signalman, before becoming coxswain.

His mother was affectionately known as ‘Lifeboat Mary’ and introduced him to fundraising from a very young age.

Due to having polio in his childhood years, Eric was unable to join the lifeboat crew, but he still had a passion for saving lives at sea and began fundraising for Penlee lifeboat in 1983.

Eric became Deputy Chair of the Penlee Lifeboat Fundraising Branch in 2012 and Chair in 2014. Under his leadership, the branch has raised £495,000, including £200,000 towards the new Penlee Lifeboat Station, which opened in 2019.

Eric said: ‘The RNLI has always been in the family, and I remember being involved from a very young age following in my great-grandfather’s footsteps.

‘It was a bit of a shock to receive this award, as this is just something I do - I enjoy volunteering so much and love being part of it.’

A total of eight RNLI volunteers and staff have been recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours.

RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes said: ‘I am always astounded by the dedication of our volunteers and staff and these eight are testament to the commitment demonstrated by so many of our people.

‘Whatever their role, they are all lifesavers and the RNLI couldn’t do what we do without them powering our frontline services with passion, talent and kindness.

‘My heartfelt congratulations to these eight Honours recipients, and as we enter our peak summer season, my thanks go to the thousands of volunteers who give their time so generously to the RNLI.’

12/06/2026

Penlee RNLI was tasked just before 9am on 12 June 2026 to assist Lizard RNLI with the recovery of a 36ft French yacht with no engine or steerage. The RNLB ‘Rose’ and her crew, having carried out a risk assessment on the situation, were towing the vessel into Newlyn.

The yacht had lines trailing everywhere, and the Penlee inshore lifeboat ‘Mollie and Ivor Dent’, under the command of Coxswain Amy Smith and 2 RNLI volunteers, was able to clear some of the lines while under tow and add support entering harbour.

10/06/2026

05/06/2026

03/06/2026

Our friend Kif Wood is organising a raffle to raise funds for Penlee RNLI and Cornwall Air Ambulance with his Cornish made guitar. Support him if you can, it will help our volunteers save lives at sea.

02/06/2026

On behalf of everyone at Penlee Lifeboat Station we would like to send our sincere thanks to Chris O’Reilly landlord of the Ranalagh Arms and all the players who played a golf match against Wellingborough golf club in memory of Newlyn man Alan Hichens. Just over £2000 was raised for Penlee Lifeboat Station which really is an amazing amount.

01/06/2026

Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival RNLI Charity Collections 2026
Friday 12 June 2pm - Sunday 14 June 4pm
Fundraising volunteers are needed to help raise funds to save lives at sea.
The RNLI is the official charity of the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival which takes place on the weekend of 12–14 June 2026. We are looking for volunteers to donate a couple of hours of their time helping to collect donations around Falmouth, and in return you’ll get a traditional Cornish pasty and a drink, setting you up perfectly to enjoy the many shanty groups performing on the weekend.
We will provide a collection bucket, RNLI tabard and instructions. We also have some contactless card machines to help boost donations. You’ll collect and return your bucket from a central location in the town and will work in pairs at different locations with lots of passing festival goers.
The festival raises money for Falmouth lifeboat and the RNLI in Cornwall, with all profits being donated to the RNLI. If you would like make a day of it or help on over the whole weekend then please select multiple shifts.

https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/events/2026/june/falmouth-sea-shanty-festival-rnli-charity-collections-2026

30/05/2026

Penlee RNLI were tasked by Falmouth Coastguards just after 12 noon on 29 May 2026 to assist a broken down fishing vessel west of Newlyn with engine failure. Our inshore lifeboat ‘Mollie and Ivor Dent’ was launched immediately under Helm ‘Woody’ Wood with a crew of RNLI volunteers who found the vessel drifting helplessly. A risk assessment carried out by the helm decided that the safest course of action would be to tow the vessel and its crew of 3 into Newlyn harbour.

There were 2 other shouts this week that were hardly worth publishing, both to paddle boarders at Praa Sands and both were false alarms with good intent. The public were correct in calling the Coastguard as they may have saved a life in a different circumstance. If you see someone in danger in the water, please call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

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