Crowds gathered in Broughty Ferry to welcome the latest, and most famous, member of its lifeboat crew – Oor Wullie.
The Broughty Ferry community won the Oor Lifesaver statue, which was part of the hugely popular Bucket Trail, for £10,000 at auction last month.
There were cheers as the sculpture arrived in style, on board the Broughty Ferry lifeboat Elizabeth of Glamis at 5.30pm.
Youngsters from the 64th Dundee Brownies held up signs which said “Welcome Home Oor Lifesaver”.
The statue, designed by local artist Fiona Hay, features Wullie in a lifeboat uniform and has ‘RIP Mona’ etched on its bucket to honour crew members who lost their lives in a rescue attempt in 1958.
The lifeboat crew started their fundraising campaign to purchase the statue after a rival campaign in Arbroath set its sights on bringing it to Angus.
Ian Philp, chairman of the Broughty Ferry lifeboat management group, praised the community for supporting the bid to own the statue.
He said: “The Arbroath campaign stirred us into action. It made us realise that we’d have to raise a significant amount to secure him. It really galvanised us to get going.
“When we first started the crowdfunding we were so pleased that the local community, the shops, businesses and schools all rallied round.
“In total we raised £16,000. This allowed us to buy the Oor Wullie and the surplus is being split 50:50 between the Archie Foundation and the RNLI.
“The turnout tonight is tremendous.”
The statue will remain at the pier over the weekend before moving to a RNLI charity shop in Gray Street, Broughty Ferry, on Tuesday where it will remain for two weeks.
Oor Lifesaver will be kept in the lifeboat shed over the winter before returning to the pier next summer.
Crew member Ewan Philp, who started the crowdfunding campaign, said Wullie had successfully passed his lifeboat exams to become a valued crew member.
He said: “Every RNLI crew member or trainee has to learn first aid training,boat handling and sea survival skills. He’s been away getting his exams and he’s passed them all.
“Oor Lifesaver was here all summer and entire community had strong affection for him being here.
“We weren’t sure how many people would turn out tonight but there’s been massive support.
“I think he’s quite happy to be home and we’re happy to have him.”
Emma White, head of fundraising for the Archie Foundation for Tayside and Fife, accepted an additional cheque for £3,000 from RNLI Broughty Ferry.
She said: “It’s absolutely incredible seeing the community come together like this.
“We appreciate the donations we have received over and above the amounts raised at the Oor Wullie auction, which itself exceeded all our expectations.”
Raylene Connachan, from Dundee, watched Oor Lifesaver arrive with her two-year-old son Ruairi, and said: “We did the whole trail and held an Oor Wullie party when they went away.
“A colleague even knitted an Oor Wullie for Ruairi.
“My wee boy is over the moon that we know there’s some he can go and visit. It’s made things a bit easier since the trail ended.”
Chloe Megaw, from Carnoustie, added: “We really enjoyed doing the trail. My daughter Poppy loved seeing them all. It’s a great effort by the lifeboat guys.”
