I've raised £6000 to help expand and improve our look-out
Organised by Graeme Gemmill, Treasurer NCI Lyme Bay
Story
Latest News! We have received planning permission for the new look-out. We are now negotiating a long lease with National Trust to protect the investment that we are about to make.
The National Coastwatch Institution is a national charity formed 26 years ago with 57 lookouts around the coast of England and Wales. All Watchkeepers, some 2,750, are volunteers, giving their time freely to act as the Eyes Along the Coast. The organisation is a member of the emergency services and is considered a Declared Asset of HM Coastguard, assisting in the protection and preservation of life at sea and along the UK coastline. At a local level NCI Lyme Bay has been keeping watch over the central part of Lyme Bay for 10 years.
Appeal from the Watchkeepers of NCI Lyme Bay
Our original look-out was destroyed during the violent storms of February 2014. We were quickly back in action, operating from a more substantial, but still, fundamentally a garden shed. We operate in a very exposed location to the extent that the prevailing southwesterly wind, straight off the Atlantic, necessitates the building being strapped down. Our location requires a programme of continual maintenance.
At Lyme Bay we normally operate two-person watches whilst also trying to accommodate the needs of trainee watchkeepers in cramped conditions.
We have drawn up plans to make the current look-out more robust and provide more working space to give us an efficient and ergonomic working environment.
Although we have some fundraising mechanisms in place, e.g. easyfundraising (www.easyfundraising.org.uk please do use it to support NCI Lyme Bay), a more directed approach is required to raise the monies that this improvement will cost. We’ve set up this JustGiving campaign and we urge everyone who values the activities of our Watchkeepers to contribute. Our target is £6,000. Please help us to raise that sum so that we may continue to provide a valuable service. GiftAid, available to UK taxpayers, will increase the effectiveness of your donation.
In the ten years of its operation, NCI Lyme Bay has been involved in many incidents that have involved HM Coastguard, the RNLI or other elements of the Search and Rescue services. Additionally, we provide local information to members of the public regarding tide times, footpaths etc., and the nature of potential hazards along what is the dangerous Jurassic coastline.
