An Arbroath man has taken the town’s lifeboat protest to the door of RNLI bosses at their national HQ.
On Monday, Craig Fyfe was outside the lifesaving charity’s Poole base with placards protesting the u-turn on a promise to equip Arbroath with a £2.5 million Shannon-class lifeboat.
The 44-year-old, who was born and brought up in the Angus town, now lives in Stevenage where he is a postman.
But Craig was determined to take time out of a family holiday in a show of support for his home community.
And the sight of Arbroath names on a memorial to the nation’s lost lifeboat heroes hit hard in the midst of the current storm.
‘Flying the flag’
Craig said: “Although I now live down south, I try to get back to Arbroath as much as I can and I keep up with everything going on.
“I know some of the lifeboat guys well, including (former operations manager) Alex Smith.”
Mr Smith was stood down after speaking out about the Arbroath decision, a move which triggered the resignation of a number of crew members.
And local fundraising has been plunged into crisis by the resignation of all but a handful of Lifeboat Guild members.
The departures included long-serving president Mo Morrison, just weeks after recognition in the King’s Birthday Honours list for her dedicated work on behalf of the RNLI.
Craig added: “Decisions are being taken nearly 600 miles from Arbroath and I just wanted to come here and stand outside the building to let them know the impact they have had on the town.
“I knew we would be passing by Poole.
“So I felt it would be worthwhile to come and fly the Arbroath flag at the main headquarters.”
Craig’s children William, 9, and Molly, 5, helped make the placards before the family continue to their holiday in Devon.
National memorial
A memorial outside the Dorset HQ bears the names of RNLI crew lost in the line of duty.
The Arbroath names include the men who perished in the Robert Lindsay disaster on the local station’s darkest day of October 1953.
“I’ve been following the row about the lifeboat from the beginning,” Craig added.
“So it was quite emotional to see Arbroath names on the memorial and think about what this has done to the town.
“Arbroath has really stood by each other and that can be quite rare in these times.
“It shows the strength of feeling there is for the lifeboat.
“Even though I don’t live in Arbroath now, I’d like to think I’ve done a little bit to show just how much the town still means to me.
“People from inside the building have come out and have been very hospitable.
“They have asked why I am there and I’ve been able to highlight a situation which has caused so much upset in Arbroath.”
And Craig revealed he had visited an Essex community fighting similar plans.
Walton and Frinton has also seen senior figures either stood down or resign over a decision to replace an all weather boat with a smaller inflatable.
In both cases, the RNLI has rejected suggestions the move is a downgrade.
They say Tayside’s lifesaving capability will be enhanced by an Atlantic 85 in Arbroath and Shannon-class lifeboats at the flank stations of Montrose and Broughty Ferry.
An RNLI spokesperson said: “We are aware of an individual protesting outside of the RNLI College in Poole following the asset change decision at Arbroath RNLI.”
