TAARC – Supporting the RNLI

Thanks to the Thurrock Acorns for submitting the following report to us in January 2016:

Organisation pool resources to support RNLI

Last year John a member of the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club (TAARC) had to call out the Lyme Regus lifeboat when a colleague felt unwell and it became obvious that without their help the situation could become life threatening. The lifeboat duly arrived and there was a happy ending.
However the story did not stop there. When John heard that on the last Friday in January there is an RNLI SOS day he was keen to get the radio club involved.

This day is an opportunity for Amateur Radio operators and clubs to celebrate the work of the brave volunteer crews that selflessly go out to rescue people at sea. From our standpoint we wished to join the amateur radio stations on the air to raise the profile of the RNLI and hopefully at the same time raise some funds for them. All the TAARC members were keen to support such a good cause and so John applied for a special event call sign GB1TYC (Thurrock Yacht Club). We were very lucky as the Grays Yacht Club agreed to sponsor us by allowing us to use their club house on the day. Although the day proved a challenge as it was very windy and erecting the antennas took some time the amateur radio stations were soon on the air. From the moment the stations started transmitting we were in contact with amateur radio stations which were located in Germany, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Holland and the UK.

The day was a huge success and we had many people visit during the day.

Leading up to the event TAARC had been contacting some local organisations to see if they would sponsor us. We were hoping to raise a £100 and we were delighted with the response. The following organisations all endorsed our thoughts that the RNLI was an organisation worth supporting. Together with the T. S Dragon (Sea Cadets), Lions Club of Grays Thurrock, Rotary Club of Stanford and Corringham, Port of Tilbury, Thurrock Yacht Club and members of TAARC we managed to raise the sum of £630 far past our target. During the afternoon we welcomed members of the RNLI who arrived on the local lifeboat. The vessel came from the Gravesend Station which covers the Thurrock shores as well as Kent. Each shift they have to complete an exercise and they used the visit to us as there activity for the day. The picture below shows cheques being passed over to the RNLI.

Nicholas Wilkinson chairman of the TAARC said:

“It was wonderful to see so many organisations working together to raise funds for such a worthwhile cause. John who co-ordinated the event is already talking about running another station next year.”

For more information about TAARC please contact Gordon via visit www.taarc.co.uk.

Thanks to the team at Thurrock Acorns for submitting this story.

Related Links

• Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club Website
• TAARC Club Profile
• Essex Ham’s reports on recent TAARC events
• Promote your club events on Essex Ham