Having given almost two-thirds of a century to the RNLI between them, three Scottish volunteers are retiring this year. After clocking up 14 years (and 6,625 nautical miles), Peter ‘Ped’ McKinnon is retiring from his role as full-time Mechanic at Oban Lifeboat Station. Since he first volunteered as a crew member in 2002, he’s attended 385 shouts and spent a total of 681 hours aboard the lifeboat. Queensferry Shop Volunteer Rose Ritchie has spent more than 30 years helping to raise lifesaving funds. In the early days she braved bitterly cold weather to sell products from a trolley outside the old lifeboat shed. In fact, Rose and her colleagues have only had the ‘luxury’ of a heated, properly equipped shop for the past 3 years. And in Girvan, Bill Tait is hanging up his notepad and pen
to retire from the role of Press Officer, a position he’s held since 1996. While he’s continuing his role as Treasurer, his ‘knack of finding other stories to ensure that RNLI Girvan remained at the forefront of the public’s mind’ will be missed, says Richard Smith, RNLI Public Relations Manager for Scotland. Could you lend your skills and time to an RNLI role like lifeboat crew member, fundraiser or education volunteer? To see a variety of RNLI volunteer opportunities, visit RNLI.org/VolRoles.