RNLI Holyhead

Funded: April 2023

Blue Light Card Foundation has provided a grant for improvements to Holyhead station crew room and for mental health training

Sectors supported: RNLI

As an indication of the growing need for welfare and wellbeing support provisions within the RNLI, 2022 saw individual service usage of the RNLI TRiM provision grow by 150% from 2021 and the highest service usage since its introduction in 2016.

Between 2012 and 2020, there have been 7,073 lifeboat launches to suspected self-harm related incidents (from an average 785 launches per year), which equates to 9.2% of all lifeboat launches.  

Two individuals from the station will gain mental health first aid training, and one will receiving training as a TRiM practitioner. TRiM Practitioners are trained to spot signs of distress in people that can often go unnoticed.

The additional resources for the welfare and crew rooms will create not only a more comfortable environment for the crew, but also a conducive space for those who need help, support, or just some much-needed time-out.

Speaking of the grant, Dave Owens, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager at Holyhead RNLI, said:

“We’re delighted to have this support from the Blue Light Card Foundation to be able to enhance our welfare support and mental health well-being facilities at Holyhead Lifeboat Station.  The funding will support extensive mental health awareness training for station crew and other lifesavers in the region so they can better support each other following traumatic shouts.

“Lifeboat volunteers are seen as brave, selfless individuals, heroes of the sea – but really they are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and are as susceptible to the same problems and issues as everyone else.

“RNLI crews are in quite a unique situation in that they can be exposed to situations of extreme trauma or danger at a moment’s notice.  While they love what they do and go about their roles with extreme dedication and professionalism, this can take its toll on the mental health of the crews when they return to their ordinary day jobs or their families.

“We feel extremely proud to receive the additional support, which we hope can be used by many generations of lifeboat volunteers to come, as well as the wider community.”