William Riley

 

Sponsors & Supporters

The work on the William Riley could not have been done without the invaluable help from a band of supporters both individuals and organisations alike. The trust was indebted to many people for their support and were grateful for all the assistance rendered whether it was financial or practical. I have created a list of those that I was aware of prior to my leaving my position as a trustee and a very brief stint as Chairman! The supporters have been randomly listed without distinguishing one supporter or sponsor over another.

The trust originally had plans to to create a board that could be displayed whenever the boat was to be displayed and have new supporters and sponsors added as necessary. It was agreed that this would help display our thanks to those that had helped us. As Mr. Charlton has useful contacts at one of his other projects he agreed to take this onboard, however when I left the trust there was no firm plans in hand and when the boat was officially unveiled there was no evident board. After reading this paragraph, Mr. Charlton e-mailed me explaining that the present trustees had changed their mind on the basis that loose presentation boards may be susceptible to the elements, although I would have thought that this was a mute point given what the trust had overcome in restoring the lifeboat?

    Geoff Robinson
    Adcliffe Drawdeal
    Denis Stainthorpe
    Ocean Youth Trust North East
    Parkol Marine Engineering
    Pybus Fine Arts
    Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O)
    L.V.L.A.
    Stourbridge Model Boat Club
    Tiger Scaffolding
    York & North Yorkshire Community Foundation
    4 th Platoon(Wellington) Army Cadet Corp
    Paul Wilson Videography Services
    The Heritage lottery Fund (HLF)
    Coates Marine Ltd
    West Epoxy Systems
    Forth Ports Plc
    Astins Estate Agents
    Gibson Associates
    Les Goodhall
    Vinyl Signs

Local businesses were encouraged to come forward as the William Riley is an important part of Whitby's Heritage. It was hoped that potential individuals and businesses could sponsor one of the ten oars choosing wording of their choice to be permanently etched onto an oar as a truly permanent sign of their support for the project. The project had support from a number of grants and donations although no oars had been sponsored prior to my resignation.

Given that the fundraising row from Tynemouth was the William Riley's first major use it seems odd that less one year on the trust is starting fundraising for a new set of oars? Relatively little used they plainly don't make them like they used to, surely during the days of predominantly rowing lifeboats the RNLI would have winced at replacing oars with less than a years use, more so when one appreciates the hazardous conditions they had to endure.

Copyright © Colin Brittain 1999 - 2022