Serving the Community – near
and far
Peter Leigh, Dungeness Shift
Technician remembers 1989 for two reasons – he started work on site and
became a volunteer with the RNLI.
Peter started work at Dungeness in the General Services Team before
training to become a Health Physics Monitor and more recently a Shift
Technician.
Peter is also now a Senior Helmsman with Littlestone Lifeboat. For most
of us this would be enough but not for Peter; he is also a volunteer
within the RNLI for the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) which is on standby
to deploy at 24 hours notice to anywhere in the world if their support
is needed.
The Rapid Response Unit was formed in 2000 from volunteers within the
RNLI. A unit consists typically of a group of 20 people who are Swift
Water Technicians i.e. have undergone an intensive training course on
fast flowing water and the associated dangers. The team will also have
specialist skills including a doctor, fork lift truck driver, crane
driver and rigger. All will be first aiders, have technical rope skills
and will all have had their inoculations! The Rapid Response Unit uses
the RNLI’s “D” Class Lifeboat which can be deflated, packed and
re-inflated where needed.
Peter has been involved in helping the flood–hit areas of Great
Yarmouth as well as Gloucestershire and Norfolk in 2007 and has also
responded to an international call for support from Guyana, South
America for humanitarian relief and Search and Rescue in 2005.
In Guyana weeks of rain and flooding had made over 250,000 people
homeless and there was a risk of a major dam giving way to compound the
situation. The RRU, along with six D-Class Lifeboats, were despatched
and ready to carry out their work on the Mohaica River within 56 hours.
The team helped with the logistics of getting emergency planning,
relief organisations and aid into the worst affected areas. They stayed
for nearly two weeks and, before leaving, trained Guayanes coastguards
how to use the lifeboats which were donated for future use if required.
The exceptional work of the RRU has been recognised and Peter, along
with other crew members, was last year presented with a certificate for
‘outstanding contribution to the community during the floods in 2007’
by Gordon Brown, Prime Minister and has also been awarded with a medal
for ‘Services to the Community’. Peter said: ”I am still enthusiastic
about my role within the RNLI and knowing that my efforts can save
lives really does give me job satisfaction.”
Extract from Dungeness 3D Newsletter