We are celebrating National Volunteers Week #VolunteersWeek

By Kath Scott on 06/07/2019

Did you know that as well as teaching our RYA/MCA Courses our Instructors also have full/part time jobs in a range of industries: The Boeing Company, WS Atkins, The Bristol Port Company & Alliance Homes. As well as all of this hard work our brilliant instructors also volunteer their spare time for the RNLI and The Pride of Bristol Trust. All of these volunteer roles are in the maritime environment – see more below:

Jake Scott – Principal & Powerboat Trainer/Advanced Examiner and Cruising Instructor

Jake is a volunteer Helmsman & Lifeboat Trainer Assessor and for RNLI Portishead. He has served just over 20 years as a volunteer with the RNLI and spends Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings training with RNLI Portishead along with attending the station when the RNLI Pager sounds.

Jake says: “Volunteering is about being able to respond to the pager to saves lives at sea at all times of day and night. We never know what we are going to so every shout is different. My most memorable shout is saving a couple on board a yacht that had run aground on the dangerous Langford Grounds just south of Clevedon and was being pounded by heavy seas.”

Kath Scott – Chief Instructor, Advanced Powerboat Instructor & Yachtmaster Instructor

Kath is volunteer crew and a Lifeboat Trainer Assessor for RNLI Portishead. She has served just over 5 years as a volunteer with the RNLI and spends Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings training with RNLI Portishead along with attending the station when the RNLI Pager sounds.

Kath says: “It’s quite noisy in the Scott house when both pagers sound; our Labrador Izzy is well practiced at jumping in her bed out of the way. My shouts have ranged from towing a range of broken down motor and sail vessels home to Portishead Marina, to searching for missing persons and having the privilege to be involved in the RNLI Portishead first life saved. We even launched last year with a 75% female crew to rescue a motor cruiser with serious engine problems – Like Forest Gump Says ~ It’s like a box of chocolates – you never know what you are going to get!”

Dan Maclellan – Advanced Powerboat Instructor

Dan is a skipper onboard the Pride of Bristol. The Pride of Bristol is a charity that runs and maintains a ex Royal Navy fleet tender.

The ship is used to get young people from all walks of life out to sea, the ship works with local Cubs, scouts, sea cadets, youth clubs and other youth charities to offer something different. Every member of the trust & crew are volunteers, the ship funded by running charter trips (diving, walking, and clay pigeon shoots) and donations.

Steve Milsom – Powerboat Instructor

Steve has been volunteer crew with RNLI Weston-super-mare for over 10 years.

Steve volunteers on both the Atlantic 75 and D Class Lifeboat and spends Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings training with RNLI Weston-super-mare along with attending the station when the RNLI Pager sounds.

Steve is a plumber and his best moment so far was ” swimming to help a man and seeing the look of pure relief on his face”

Jake and Kath Scott also featured on the BBC Saving Lives at Sea – Series 3 Episode 10. They responded to a shout on their wedding anniversary and you can see the footage here – they are the last story of the episode at around 45 mins in.

Jake also made it onto Series 4 with an immediate launch to 2 fisherman cut off by the tide up to their waists in water – with Jake as the helm they got to the fisherman Justin time before they were swept away by the incoming tide – they even managed to rescue their bucket of fish!