National Coastwatch celebrates NCI awareness day over the weekend of 6 June
Royal visit celebrations at THE NATIONAL COASTWATCH STATION AT gorleston
Norfolk volunteers had a double celebration during Volunteers Week when Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the National Coastwatch station at Gorleston on Wednesday 4 June.
Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal is Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a charity run entirely by volunteers. Her Royal Highness visited NCI Brancaster in January and NCI Cromer in January 2024 as part of an ongoing programme of visits to meet the volunteers at NCI’s 60 coastal stations.
NCI’s stations report to HM Coastguard and have to pass a rigorous programme of assessments to be part of HM Coastguard’s official list of trusted organisations – each known as a ‘declared facility’. They share the same aim of helping to save lives around the coast which the charity has been doing for over 30 years. NCI Gorleston opened in 1995 and stands on the Pier, on the site of the town’s former lighthouse and later the Coastguard station, with sweeping views out to sea. There are 43 members including trainees, all of whom are volunteers and they are on watch every day from 8am to 8pm in the summer months. They log around 500 vessel movements each month and in 2024, they assisted HM Coastguard with eight incidents and there have been a further four this year.
All 2,800 National Coastwatch volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives along the coast by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent, including the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.
The Princess Royal was received at the station by His Majesty’s Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, Mrs Jane Cator. She presented NCI Chair, Stephen Hand who introduced Station Manager, Bob Griffiths, Deputy Station Manager Garry Hitchings and watchkeepers Tom Foster and Barry Banham.
Her Royal Highness visited the station’s watch room for a briefing about the watchkeepers’ work.
After visiting the station, The Princess Royal attended a reception at the nearby Pier Hotel. Around 50 NCI Gorleston volunteers, watchkeepers, donors and supporters met Her Royal Highness.
Also present were NCI Trustee Linda Lawrence, maritime search and rescue partners including HM Coastguard, RNLI and the RNLI lifeguards. The local community was further represented by the High Sheriff of Norfolk, Patrick Lines; Cllr Thomas Fitzpatrick, Chair of Norfolk County Council; Cllr Carl Annison, Mayor of Great Yarmouth and the local supporters of NCI Gorleston.
The Princess Royal then unveiled a plaque to mark her visit to the station and presented long service awards to:
10 Years: Tom Foster and David Dick
20 Years: Andy Lee
Stephen Hand, NCI Chair, formally welcomed Her Royal Highness to NCI Gorleston and thanked her for her visit.
“Your Royal Highness, as NCI Chair it is an honour to welcome you once again to Norfolk and this time to NCI Gorleston.
“Your visits are always a huge boost for everyone involved, they really help to shine a spotlight on the work of our dedicated volunteers and today is especially timely as we celebrate Volunteers Week. We are all extremely grateful for the time and commitment that you give to NCI,” he said.
NEW NATIONAL COASTWATCH LOTTERY RAISES FUNDS AND BRINGS A CHANCE TO WIN £25,000
There’s a new way to help raise vital funds to support the lifesaving work of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) and have the chance of winning £25,000 every week with the launch of a lottery scheme operated by Unity.
Each entry into the draw costs just £1 and the draws take place every Friday with a 1 in 69 chance of winning three numbers. There is also the chance to win the top weekly prize of £25,000. At least 50% of the monies from all entries go to NCI and will help support the work of the National Coastwatch. These funds are needed to support the charity’s maintenance and development programmes for the network of 60 coastal stations which are part of the UK’s maritime safety community.
From each station, highly trained volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives along the coast by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch, looking out for anyone in potential danger.
Stephen Hand, NCI’s Chair said:
“As a charity, we rely solely on the goodwill of volunteers, our local communities and generous support from partner organisations and we’re delighted to be among the charities to offer a lottery which will further extend and boost our fundraising activities.
“It’s a win-win as the money raised will benefit all our stations and our planned expansion programme. And of course, it will bring some fun with the prospect of winning cash prizes with the extra satisfaction of knowing you’re supporting a good cause.”
The new lottery expands NCI’s range of easy ways to support the charity and its 2,800-plus volunteers. Other ways to support NCI’s work include a retail website for branded clothing and gifts, JustGiving and through Easyfundraising an online shopping scheme with over 7,000 participating brands who donate a % of your spend to a local NCI station if this is your chosen cause.
The Unity Lottery platform is administered by Sterling Management Centre Limited, licensed by the Gambling Commission as an External Lottery Manager (ELM). Players must be a minimum of 18 years old to enter. For every £1 entry, players receive a unique 6-digit lottery number. The lottery number is randomly allocated when you sign up and remains for the duration of your membership in your chosen lottery.
The lottery is a number match game. Every Friday, Unity generates a random 6-digit winning number sequence. Winners must match 3,4,5 or all 6 digits of the winning number in the correct place in the sequence. Prizes are sent to winners automatically.
National Coastwatch Institution | Causes | Unity Lottery
A ROYAL OCCASION FOR THE NATIONAL COASTWATCH STATION AT ST IVES
It was a day of celebrations on Tuesday 6 May for the Cornwall volunteers who help save lives around the coast when Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited the National Coastwatch station at St Ives.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a charity run entirely by volunteers. It celebrated its 30th anniversary of helping to save lives around the coast in 2024.
NCI St Ives opened in 1999 and in 2010 it received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the highest award given to voluntary groups in the UK, equivalent to an MBE. The station stands high on a promontory, allowing the volunteer watchkeepers to maintain a watch over the whole of St Ives Bay ranging from Godrevy lighthouse in the north to Clodgy Point in the south.
All 2,800 National Coastwatch volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives along the coast by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent, including the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.
It is one of 13 stations in Cornwall, all of which are on the South West Coast Path and are popular destinations for walkers keen to get their passports stamped as a record of their route.
The Princess Royal was received at the station by His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall, Sir Edward Bolitho. He presented NCI Chair, Stephen Hand who introduced Station Manager, Jonathan Mills and Deputy Station Manager Paul Edwards.
Jonathan escorted Her Royal Highness into the station’s watch room for a briefing about their work and the particular coastal safety challenges at NCI St Ives including the Stones Reef, moving sandbars and very strong tides which can pose a danger to swimmers. Duty watchkeepers, Margaret Neal and Nigel Mawditt were also presented.
NCI St Ives has a crew of over 50 fully trained watchkeepers who monitor all the coastal activity during daylight hours, with an emergency team on 24/7 standby.
After visiting the station, The Princess Royal attended a reception at the nearby Tregenna Castle Hotel. The reception and use of the facilities were generously donated by the hotel.
The reception was attended by around 60 NCI volunteers, as well as representatives from NCI’s Cornwall-based national office and nearby National Coastwatch stations at Cape Cornwall, Gwenapp Head, and Penzance. NCI Sector Managers Jim Jeffries, Kevin Wyre and regional Trustee Helen Simpson.
Also present were maritime search and rescue partners including HM Coastguard, RNLI and the RNLI lifeguards. The local community was further represented by Mayor of St Ives, St Ives Town Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and the local supporters of NCI St Ives.
The Princess Royal then unveiled a plaque to mark her visit to the station and presented epaulettes to Kevin Wyre, Sector Manager and long service awards to: 10 years: Susan Barraclough, Margaret Neal, Judi Haggerty; 15 years: Mick Haggerty.
The Princess Royal also presented the NCI Certificate of Merit, the organisation’s highest award to Karin Stratford of NCI Gwenapp Head for her prompt action over a concern for two people and a yacht in difficulties, resulting in a successful rescue.
Stephen Hand, NCI Chair, formally welcomed Her Royal Highness to NCI St Ives and thanked her for her visit.
“Your Royal Highness, as NCI Chair it is an honour to welcome you to NCI St Ives on behalf of the watchkeepers of this and three of the neighbouring Cornish stations.
“Your visit is the source of huge motivation and encouragement to our volunteers in their work of helping to keep people safe along this busy stretch of the Cornish coast and we are extremely grateful for the time and commitment that you give to NCI,” he said.
Award for Lifesaving work
Our volunteers do extraordinary work and Karin from NCI Gwenapp Head is one of them.
Her lifesaving actions one stormy day in April have been praised by our HM Coastguard colleagues and she has also been awarded the NCI Certificate of Merit, the highest recognition that watchkeepers can achieve for being directly involved in helping to save a life or lives. The certificate was awarded to Karin by our Royal Patron HRH The Princess Royal during a visit to Cornwall.
Karin was on watch and became increasingly concerned for the safety of a yacht on passage towards Land’s End. In deteriorating Severe Gale Force 9 weather conditions, the yacht turned back, trying to seek shelter in a local bay. Karin alerted Falmouth Coastguard and was asked to keep monitoring the situation while rescue services were on their way.
Shortly afterwards, she heard VHF radio call on Channel 16 from the yacht saying that the two people on board were abandoning the vessel. Due to their location, the call could only be heard by NCI Gwennap Head and Karin immediately relayed the details by landline to Falmouth Coastguard. She then extended her five hour watch by a further two and a half hours until the casualties were rescued, maintaining a visual and listening watch and updating HM Coastguard as and when requested.
The Certificate bears the following citation from HM Coastguard Operations MRCC Falmouth:
“We believe the prompt actions and support taken by your watchkeeper over the concern for a yacht led to the successful rescue of the two crew and the recovery of the yacht. Had the Ch16 emergency call not been picked up by Karin on watch that day the consequences could have been far worse, with no one being aware of the perilous situation that was developing. Please pass our thanks to Karin for a job well done.”
Congratulations Karin!
NCI Swanage Celebrates 30 Years
The National Coastwatch station at Swanage celebrated 30 years of helping to keep people safe and save lives around the Dorset coast on 15 April 2025.
It was the second National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) station to open and now forms part of a 61-strong network of stations at key points along the coastline of England and Wales. The station is on the site of an old Coastguard Lookout, and is sited at Peveril Point, with sweeping views across Swanage Bay and out to sea.
Across the country, 2,800 NCI volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent. This assistance comes from the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.
Martin Jones, Station Manager at Swanage, said, “We’re tremendously proud to have achieved this milestone and we look forward to the next thirty years. Our dedicated team of nearly 70 watchkeepers keep watch 364 days a year, during daylight hours (as we are all volunteers, we allow ourselves Christmas Day off!). An even more impressive way of thinking about it is to consider that we’ve kept watch for around 100,000 hours. Over the past thirty years we have logged somewhere in the region of 360,000 vessels; assisted with and instigated responses to numerous incidents and we’ve definitely been instrumental in saving lives.”
Martin continued, “We’ve had several notable highlights during the last thirty years. In 2012 we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS). Now known as the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, KAVS is awarded to voluntary groups for their contribution to their communities and is often referred to as the MBE for groups.
“In 2021 we were privileged to be visited by our Royal patron, HRH The Princess Royal. and in 2024 we were awarded the High Sheriff’s Award which recognised our contribution at improving safety in Dorset.”
The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) began life in December 1994 when its first station opened at Bass Point, in Cornwall. It was formed following a tragedy where two local fishermen lost their lives. Since then the organisation has grown and there are now over 2,800 trained volunteer watchkeepers at 61 stations from Fleetwood on the West Coast round to Filey on the East Coast.
The Swanage station can trace its history back to at least the 1870s when it was a coastguard lookout. Shortly after the Cornish station at Bass Point opened, NCI founder, Captain Tony Starling-Lark was invited to Swanage with a view to open an NCI station in the former coastguard building. Instrumental in this meeting was the late Ian Surface BEM, who was also the officer in charge of the Auxiliary Coastguard team in Swanage. Ian quickly gathered a team of volunteers, including members of his auxiliary team, and the second NCI station, in the country, was opened.
Like all NCI stations, Swanage is staffed purely by volunteers and receives no external funding. In addition to their watchkeeping duties, the volunteers are responsible for raising the Station’s running costs, which are around £14,000 each year. To achieve this the Station relies on the generosity of its local community and the general public.
NCI St Agnes Head receives Civic Award
Congratulations to all the crew at NCI St Agnes Head on receiving a prestigious Civic Award from Truro City Council.
The annual awards recognise local volunteers who have ‘gone the extra mile’ and NCI St Agnes Head representatives were at the packed event in March. It is organised jointly by Truro City Council and Truro Old Cornwall Society.
Paul Caruana, Truro Civic Awards coordinator said: “It is with great pride that I nominate NCI St Agnes Head Station Manager and his team of volunteer watchkeepers for their unwavering commitment to the National Coastwatch Institution ‘Eyes Along The Coast’ who keep a vigilant and watchful eye on the safety of our local mariners and coastal-path users alike.”
The extensive refurbishment of the off grid station is being achieved with the generous support from the community and businesses.
Pictured are (l-r) Ian; Sally; Mark, Station Manager; Kevin; Kathy; Andy and David, Helen (front right), Regional Trustee for Cornwall.
“The volunteer members of NCI St Agnes Head, with the help of a Cornwall Council grant and absolutely amazing generosity from other local organisations, have been able to replace the roof, replace the windows and door, install a high velocity wind turbine and new internal desks. We also have three solar panels on the outside of the building, which were provided as a donation from Natural Gen, a local off grid company, for which we were very grateful, and supported by the superwind wind turbine (Purchased via Cornwall Council Grant),” added Paul.
An official ceremony to thank the community and celebrate the station’s refurbishment will take place later in the Spring.