By day they are golf instructors, IT workers and lecturers, but by night they are lifesavers. Alex Varley-Winter and Joseph Dyke meet the people who give up their spare time to be lifeboat volunteers

At 2am your pager bleeps. Springing from the bed you dress frantically, dash outside and down the road as fast as you can. In three minutes you’re on the river, chasing an emergency call. This is the routine of lifeboat volunteers on the Thames.

The Teddington and Chiswick lifeboat crews willingly spend their nights on call. Forty of Chiswick’s 50 staff are unpaid, and Teddington is the only station in London staffed entirely by volunteers.

With more than 300 emergency calls received every year, their work saves lives.

When we meet the crews of the stations it is a bit like a child’s dream – a shiny blue tractor tows the brightly-coloured boat.

Hard hats hang in rows across from sleek black jumpsuits. The cupboard is full of radios and the whole station is ready to jump at the signal.

Their stories are varied, and their lives very different, but they often have strong personal reasons to give up their time.

Teddington crew member Glenn Collins, a professional golf instructor, has admired lifeboat workers all his life, but joined the Teddington station when a friend saw them in action.

He said: “My friends were scuba-diving and somebody got the bends. “They could have died if they hadn’t been rescued.”

Ian Greatbatch had wanted to be a lifeguard as a small boy, but ended up in academia at Kingston University.

It wasn’t until a few years ago his studies led him back towards his childhood dream.

He said: “I am a geography lecturer, and part of my academic research meant I had to do a boating qualification.

“In the end it led towards the lifeboat, and it all came together at the right time.”

Chiswick-based full timer Mark Turrell’s story is even more touching. When you ask him about why he does it his face softens.

He explained: “My father was a fisherman. When I was eight he was caught in a terrible storm and drowned.

“I realised in that situation it was possible to save somebody, so it was something I had always wanted to get involved with.”

The volunteers’ work is an often forgotten service.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) is widely known in coastal areas, but relatively unrecognised in London.

Andy Butterfield, who juggles an IT job with his six-year commitment to the service, said a lot of people don’t realise there is a lifeboat station in Teddington.

He said: “They think lifeboats are only at sea, but there’s a lot of trouble on the Thames.”

All the volunteers said the skills they learn in lifeboat training have enhanced their normal lives.

“I’ve already trained to a really high level in golf,” said Mr Collins.

“But I can tell you my RNLI training is second to none.”

As part of their training all volunteers become qualified in first aid, a course which is recognised by St Johns Ambulance.

In fact Mr Collins told us his first aid skills have already been useful in his everyday life.

He said: “I was just passing by when an old man collapsed, I knew exactly what to do.”

And when the shift comes to an end and they have to put down their helmets the volunteers all have other jobs to return to, from academics to IT consultants and photographers.

Some travel many miles to be here; one member of the Chiswick team is even based in France, and gets the ferry over twice a month.

But do they ever regret the hours spent travelling and on call? It appears not.

Laura Ashman, the newest volunteer at the Chiswick branch, said: “I love it, it’s the best thing I have done in my life, I love the people and I love being out on the water.”

Teddington’s Cathy Cogle also enjoys the social aspect of the job, she said: “What I like about the crew is we’re a complete mix of people, but we all come together and get on well.

“Every Tuesday night we train, and lots of us go for a swift half afterwards.”

Mr Turrell, however, appears to sum it up best.

He said: “I just love it, it’s the only job where 90 per cent of people you meet are delighted to see you.

“The payment comes when someone shakes your hand and says ‘thanks very much’.”

Call for volunteers

Teddington is the only fully voluntary lifeboat station on the Thames. The station is always in need of enthusiastic people who live close by to train to be crew members.

If you can help call Malcolm Miatt, lifeboat operations manager, on 07802 910942.

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