Kevin Kirkpatrick’s family have been volunteering at Longhope RNLI for 150 years. How does he feel about his daughter carrying on the tradition?

2024 won’t just be a big year for the RNLI – it’ll be a big year for Longhope Lifeboat Station too, as it reaches its 150th ‘birthday’. In all that time, a member of the Kirkpatrick family has been among the crew.

For former Longhope Coxswain Kevin Kirkpatrick, the RNLI has been a huge part of his life ever since he started volunteering in his early twenties. Today, his daughter is keeping the tradition going.

As well as speaking about the emotions that this stirs up, Kevin relives some of his most memorable rescues. He also reveals that the sense of togetherness that was formed after the disaster in 1969 - in which all eight lifeboat crew members were lost - is still felt in the community to this day.

200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI

Interview by Adventurous Audio

Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls

The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200