Rob Schofield, RNLI volunteer lifeboat helmsman at Flint lifeboat station, exchanged dry suit for day suit to attend St James Palace in London to receive his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from Prince Edward last week.
Rob, who has only recently returned from Cockermouth with the RNLI Flood Rescue Team, said:
‘One of the reasons I joined the lifeboat crew at Flint was because I knew the RNLI was an organisation I could do the Duke of Edinburgh course with. I enjoy my volunteer role with the RNLI and I intend to continue for as long as I can.’
‘Our next task is to prepare for RNLI SOS Day on the Friday 29 January, our national fundraising and awareness day, and we want as many people as possible to organise events to raise funds for the charity using the initials SOS.’
‘I am promoting and taking part in ‘Swim On Shore’, which is a sponsored swim-a-mile project. I would be delighted to hear from people who want to join me or sponsor me with the swim.’
‘Anybody wanting to organise an event of their own, or supporters wanting to make a donation, should contact Alan Forrester on 07785593247. If you want to find out more about SOS Day then visit rnli.org.uk/sos .’
Alan Forrester, RNLI volunteer lifeboat operations manager at Flint, said:
‘We were having a meeting with Rob and the other helmsmen, when Rob mentioned he was going to London to collect his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. We are all really proud of him, as we knew nothing about the presentation – it probably slipped his mind when he was doing the flood relief work in Cumbria!’
