Mayor of Workington Joan Wright handed over a cheque to members of Workington RNLI at the station on Tuesday towards the cost of the new Shannon class lifeboat, which is expected to be delivered early next year.
Coxswain John Stobbart explained the urgent need for a new lifeboat to town council representatives before taking the group out to sea on the station’s current boat to experience the conditions volunteers work in.
Coun Wright said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to give them this cheque because the lifeboat is part of Workington’s history.
“It’s been here a long time and hopefully it’s going to stay here so I look forward to having a trip on the new boat as well.”
Workington RNLI Lifeboat operations manager Tim Chittenden added: “It’s a fantastic gesture and really heart-warming.
“We’ve had some really big, lovely donations and other smaller ones from different people and it’s been nice to see the total steadily building up.
“The reason we’re doing an appeal is not just to raise the funds but to raise the profile of the lifeboat as well.
“We are very keen to get people in West Cumbria to recognise that this is their lifeboat and to take ownership of it.”
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