Sir Jock's Farewell Tour!
The retiring chairman of the RNLI paid a farewell visit to the Redcar lifeboat station on Wednesday 5 March 2008.

Admiral Sir Jock Slater is stepping down at the end of 2008 after four years at the helm of the lifeboat service. During his visit Sir Jock met members of the volunteer crew and the station management team, together with representatives from the ladies lifeboat guild, the fundraising shop and the Zetland Lifeboat Museum.

Sir Jock praised the efforts of the crew and their continued commitment to protecting the coast of Redcar since 1802 when the station opened, and thanked the crew for the flood-relief work which they carried out in Hull in the summer of 2007. He described the success of the RNLI's purpose-built training college in Poole where many of the Redcar crewmembers have undergone sea survival and boat-handling experience and told how the college now generated vital life-saving funds by providing training to other organisations.

He told the assembled volunteers, "The RNLI needs to work very hard to raise the funds needed to operated the lifeboats of the UK and Republic of Ireland."

"It's thanks to the efforts of fundraisers like those at Redcar that the RNLI is able to keep going and I'm delighted that you managed to raise a record amount of £17,000 in 2007."

During the visit Sir Jock chatted with the crew, including Ernie Bennett who has been a volunteer for 41 years, making him the longest-serving crewmember currently at the station. He was given a guided tour of the station by Mike Picknett, Senior Helmsman.

As a memento of his visit he was presented with a limited edition print of Redcar's first lifeboat, the Zetland, by fundraising shop manager Angie Bade.

Sir Jock Slater joined the RNLI Council in 1999 and became Chairman in July 2004. He is also Chairman of the Trustee Committee and has served on the Technical and Operations Committees.

Sir Jock Slater served in the Royal Navy from 1956-1998 retiring as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. During his career, he commanded HM Ships SOBERTON, JUPITER, KENT and ILLUSTRIOUS and the School of Maritime Operations at HMS Dryad. He was Equerry to HM The Queen from 1968 to 1971.

As an Admiral, he was Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Policy and Nuclear), Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland and Naval Base Commander Rosyth, Chief of Fleet Support, Commander-in-Chief Fleet and Allied Commander-in-Chief Channel and Eastern Atlantic and Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.