New Whitby lifeboat's 10,000 names target reached

There are plans in place to provide a display of the names of the loved ones at the lifeboat station

The names of more than 10,000 people will be added to the hull of Whitby's new £2.5m lifeboat, following a fundraising campaign by the RNLI.

Members of the public were encouraged to make a donation in return for having a loved one's name featured on the Shannon class vessel.

The names will be included within the lettering and numbering on the lifeboat's hull.

It is hoped the vessel will be in operation in North Yorkshire from June.

Whitby RNLI Station chairman Mike Major said: "It has been really quite moving listening to and reading the reasons behind people's donations in memory of their loved ones.

"It will be with great pride that the crew bring the lifeboat through the harbour, to her new home bearing those names."

Howard Fields, coxswain of Whitby RNLI, said the crew is excited about receiving the new lifeboat

The new vessel will be named Lois Ivan after George Ivan Stone, and his late partner Lois, who left a legacy to the RNLI, the majority of which has funded the new lifeboat.

It will replace the station's current Trent class lifeboat, the George and Mary Webb.

It is hoped the new boat will enter Whitby harbour for the first time in June, after a week-long passage from Poole where it has been built.

An RNLI spokesperson there are plans in place to provide a display of the names at the lifeboat station so they can be viewed by donors, advising people to wait until for further details about the display before visiting Whitby to view the new lifeboat.

A lifeboat crew has been in operation in Whitby for more than 200 years.

Since it opened, the lifeboat has launched almost 3,000 times and saved more than 1,200 lives, according to an RNLI spokesperson.