THE generosity of a couple who retired to Ringwood substantially funded a £204,000 new lifeboat for the RNLI.
A naming ceremony was held at the charity’s sea survival centre at Poole to officially name their inshore lifeboat Malcolm & Mona Bennett-Williams.
The B Class Atlantic 85, an inshore lifeboat capable of 35 knots carrying up to four crew members, will be in the relief fleet, helping mariners in distress.
Malcolm and Mona Bennett-Williams were lifelong supporters of the Poole-based life saving charity, who met at the age of 15 when they were both pupils at Ackworth School in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.
They married in 1945 at the end of the Second World War and enjoyed holidaying in the New Forest and visiting Freshwater on the Isle of Wight.
When the couple retired to Poulner, Mona joined the Ringwood fundraising branch and helped raise vital funds for the charity.
Malcolm died in 1998 and Mona eight years later in 2006 and it has been their hope that their legacy would provide a lifeboat for the south coast.
“They would be thrilled to know that this wish has now been fulfilled with the addition of a relief fleet lifeboat, meaning it could see active service at any of the RNLI’s 236 lifeboat stations that have a B class vessel, at times when the station’s normal lifeboat is away for servicing, repair or maintenance,” said a spokesman for the charity.
The ceremony was hosted by David Brook, engineering and supply director, operations staff officer Adrian Carey spoke about the lifeboat’s capabilities, the Rev Cecil Clark conducted a service of dedication and the event was followed by a capsize demonstration in the pool.
