AN EVENING of celebrations was held for two members of the Lyme Regis RNLI crew who recently hung up their life jackets.

The volunteers were honoured after they stepped down from their roles at the team’s end-of-summer party at Lyme Regis Powerboat Club.

Rich Tilley volunteered as a member of the boat crew between 2017 and 2022 and during his service he went out to sea on 50 service calls and 67 training exercises, spending a total of 155 hours at sea.

Kyle Knight’s lifeboat career covered the years 2019 to 2022 and during this period he spent 115 hours at sea including 11 service calls and 72 training sessions.

Lifeboat Operations Manager Mark Colley said: “Rich and Kyle can be justly proud of what they have achieved during their RNLI service. We are grateful for all the effort they put in during training, on shouts and in supporting the charity both on and off the lifeboat.”

The opportunity was taken during the celebrations to present the leavers with mementos and letters of thanks from the lifesaving charity.

During the party, guests enjoyed a delicious buffet supper, whilst the crew’s children were entertained by a magician.

RNLI Lyme Regis currently has 17 sea-going crew members, five of which are training to advance their skills under the two-tier training system recently adopted by the RNLI.