< Go Back New Lifeboat Mechanic appointed at Lytham St Annes Posted: Feb 4, 2016
New Lifeboat Mechanic appointed at Lytham St Annes Ben McGarry takes over at the Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Station
Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Mechanic Ben McGarry (photo RNLI / Nigel Millard)
The RNLI has appointed Ben McGarry as Station Mechanic to succeed Martin Jaggs who has left the post to take up a new role working as Divisional Operations Manager for the Sea Charity s England Central Division area.
Ben, who lives in Lytham, joined the local crew in 2011 and recently has worked extensively for the RNLI as a relief Mechanic while still being a crew member at Lytham St Annes when home at weekends. The Relief Mechanic role involved travelling around various stations in the UK and Republic of Ireland to fill in for the local Mechanic if they were unavailable through illness, holiday or other unforeseen circumstances.
Ben has also been involved with the new Shannon class lifeboat trials and evaluation work and also with delivery passages of new lifeboats to their stations. When not carrying out those duties he helped to maintain the relief and training fleet of lifeboats based at RNLI Headquarters at Poole. This has given him great experience in maintaining lifeboats and their equipment which will be the major part of his work at Lytham St Annes although he will also be responsible for looking after the two tractors and Land Rover and the two boathouses.
He will become the Station s only full time person, necessary due to the amount of work involved and the need to be available 24 hours a day, as the rest of the crew are all volunteers who give up their time and expertise to save lives at sea.
Ben becomes only the fifth person to hold this important position at the Lytham St Annes Station since the first motor lifeboat arrived 85 years ago in 1931. He follows on from his dedicated predecessors, Harry Evans (1931 1939), George Harrison (1939 1979), Tony West (1979 1995) and Martin Jaggs (1995 2015) in performing this vital role.
As well as the Lifeboat Mechanic, Martin Jaggs was also the Lifeboat Coxswain and this role was been filled from the 1st January 2016 by Gary Bird who joined the Lytham St Annes crew in 2004 after 30 years on the Hoylake and West Kirby crews.
David Forshaw
Notes to editors
Lytham St Annes lifeboat station was founded in 1851 To learn more about the station, go to: www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/north/stations/LythamStAnnesLancashire/ RNLI media contacts For more information please contact David Forshaw, Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Press Officer on 07904 685 206 or Peter Whalley, Lytham St Annes Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07872 026395 orAlison Levett, RNLI Media Relations Manager, North, on 01642 750585 or 07786 668912 or at
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For more information on the RNLI please visit www.rnli.org.uk . News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI Press Centre www.rnli.org.uk/press
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates over 230 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and has more than 100 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 137,000 lives.
A charity registered in England and Wales (209603) and Scotland (SCO37736). Charity number CHY 2678 in the Republic of Ireland.
