Saving Our Sarah CIC

Saving Our Sarah CIC, is a restoration project of a 1951 Watson Class lifeboat called Sarah Townsend Porritt – ON 886.

Ex-RNLB Sarah Townsend Porritt – ON 886 has a history to be proud of, she was built in 1951 and carried out in total 95 launches and saved 43 lives.

Lytham St Annes – 79 launches and 35 lives saved

She also served at the following stations in the relief fleet, 16 launches and 8 lives saved;

Howth – 2 launches, with 1 life saved.

Workington – 1 Launch, with 0 lives saved

Lytham St Annes – 3 launches, with 0 lives saved

Tenby – 4 launches, with 3 lives saved

Fleetwood – 6 launches, with 4 lives saved

In addition to the number of lives saved, 2 of her coxswain were awarded the Bronze medals for Gallantry.

This is your chance to her save this iconic lifeboat and keep her on the water for generations of people to see what the old lifeboats were all about.

A total of 28, 46 ft. 9 in. (14.2 m) Watson Class lifeboats were built between 1947–1956, only a few remain in their original condition, as lifeboats. This is why Sarah needs to be saved and persevered.

The skills and workmanship that went into these boats is fast disappearing and we would like to use the traditional maritime skill of the west of Cornwall to be kept alive as part of this project.

We intend to invite people with these traditional skills to engage with volunteers, by passing on these traditional skills and knowledge to ensure that Sarah will remain seaworthy for many years to come and will continue to help the communities of west Cornwall through educational and mental health awareness programmes.

Funding of this part of the project will be by private donations, social funding such as the National Lottery and donations/sponsorship of material and time from professional originations and suppliers.

This is a unique opportunity in west Cornwall, which isn’t provided by other commercial companies providing similar services or products for individual or personal gain and as such provides communities with learning skills.