RNLI 200 Voices

30. Blazing a Trail: Di Bush

As the charity’s first female coxswain, Di Bush made RNLI history. She’s also made a vow to encourage more women to follow in her footsteps
Having spent much of her time at sea, Di Bush knows that every day on the water is different. It’s an environment that changes all the time. But change isn’t something that fazes Di, having herself made an incredible change in the RNLI’s history by becoming our charity’s first full-time female coxswain.
As coxswain, Di leads her crew at Harwich Lifeboat Station through difficult rescues. Hear as she recalls a particularly memorable one of an oyster fisherman in desperate need of help on a windy winter’s day.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI 
Interview by the RNLI's Rory Stamp
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 

29. Road to Recovery: Annie Jagoe

After Portrush lifeguard Annie Jagoe helped rescue a man with spinal injuries, he was told he would never walk again. But 1 year on, the story took a twist 
When Portrush lifeguard Annie Jagoe heard the words: ‘Unconscious body in the water’ over her VHF radio, she scanned Benone Beach. Hearing that the casualty couldn’t move, Annie grabbed her spinal board.
Matthew, the surfer that Annie and her fellow lifeguards aided that day, was told that he’d never walk again. Yet, on the anniversary of the accident 1 year later, Matthew made a return to the water. And Annie was at his side. 
Interested in being a frontline lifesaver? Like Annie, you can help keep beachgoers safe. Find out how to become a lifeguard and learn more about what’s involved in this unique and rewarding job.
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 
 

28. Dr. Joanna Bellis: The Tankard with a Tale

RNLI Heritage Officer Dr Joanna Bellis on fundraising chickens, and her favourite object in the RNLI Museum collection
When you have 200 years’ worth of stories scattered around an organisation as far-flung as the RNLI, sometimes some detective work is in order. RNLI Heritage Officer Joanna Bellis reveals how the tales behind some her favourite artefacts in the RNLI’s collection came to light.
Hear why donors couldn’t say no to a fundraising chicken. And learn why a certain silver tankard proved to be a bit of a Russian doll – inside it, lay the secret to a dramatic rescue straight from a Boys Own adventure.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI 
Interview by the RNLI's Isobel Noctor
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 

27. Always In Concert: Mark Pusey

When he’s not on stage with Ed Sheeran, he’s on duty at Chiswick RNLI. Mark Pusey on the unlikely similarities between both
When Mark Pusey discovered there were RNLI lifeboats on the River Thames, suddenly a lifelong dream of volunteering on the crew could become a reality – without leaving London. Session drummer Mark takes a break from Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics tour to talk about the realities of lifesaving on a powerful tidal river. From the buzz of Boat Race day to the camaraderie of crewmates, hear how his professional and volunteer roles put each one into perspective. 
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 

26. The Last of the Pirates: Nick Richards

The day the RNLI rescued pirates – former Radio Caroline DJ Nick Richards reflects on the event that inspired a lifelong affinity with the charity
The Mi Amigo was a rusting hulk. She had a seized engine, no ship’s wheel, and somebody had even made off with the compass. Yet, in the 1960s, this was a boat with legions of fans, including the DJs who called the Mi Amigo home.
Nick Richards takes us back to the days of Radio Caroline, the pirate radio station that broadened musical horizons from a ship anchored off the Essex coast. Nick, one of four DJs rescued when the Mi Amigo began to sink, recalls the day Sheerness RNLI came to their aid. But there was a fifth crew member onboard that day – what happened to the ship’s canary, Wilson?
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 

25. A WW1 Rescue: Fraserburgh Sea Cadets

In 1915, seas carried extra danger. After a steamer is sunk by a submarine, RNLI lifeboat Lady Rothes is launched. Fraserburgh Sea Cadets pick up the story
The champagne had barely dried on Fraserburgh’s newly named lifeboat, when her crew were called into the fray of a First World War rescue. The Lady Rothes had just been donated to the town by the Countess of Rothes’ father, grateful that his daughter had survived the 1912 Titanic disaster.
On 8 August 1915, the lifeboat’s volunteer crew launched after a German submarine was sighted 15 miles offshore. Fraserburgh’s first motor lifeboat was about to claim its first rescue. 
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI  
Narration courtesy of the Fraserburgh Sea Cadets 
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  

24. Weathering the Storm: Dr Sam Jones

Wild weather and forbidding seas aren’t the only challenges the RNLI has faced – Dr Sam Jones reveals how the charity we know today came about
As with so many good beginnings, it all started in a pub. On 4 March, 1824, Sir William Hillary met Thomas Wilson in Bishopsgate’s London Tavern to establish the National Institution for the Preservation of Lives and Property from Shipwreck. But after an auspicious start, the charity we know today as the RNLI hit choppier waters.
RNLI Tobermory’s Dr Sam Jones – who very sadly passed away in our anniversary year – reveals the organisation’s evolution. And explains why, 200 years from now, future historians will recognise the same volunteer ethos at the Institution's heart.
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  

23. The Sound that Stops the World: Paul Fisher

The RNLI’s Senior Operations Manager explains how a lifeboat crew comes together
How were lifeboat crews alerted in the days before pagers? What if a crew member’s pager goes off during Christmas dinner? Or a wedding? And why is a shout called a shout? The RNLI’s Paul Fisher reveals the surprising ways in which volunteer crews have been called into action to save those they’ve never met. The methods may have changed, but the lifesavers' commitment and selflessness remain.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI  
Interview by the RNLI's Darren Crew 
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  

22. Flying High: Leesa Espley

She flies a hovercraft for the RNLI. And flies the flag for female volunteers. Meet Leesa Espley
In 2007, RNLI Hunstanton’s Leesa Espley became the first woman to gain a pilot’s licence to fly an RNLI hovercraft. But she had to do it the hard way – needing laser eye-surgery before she could take flight. Hear how times have changed for RNLI crews, and about what it’s like to pilot something with no brakes.
Learn more about the hovercraft.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI  
Interview by the RNLI's Rory Stamp
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  

21. Sophie Dixon on the People’s Darling

Visual artist Sophie Dixon on a Northumberland heroine and the film she inspired
On 7 September, 1838, a lighthouse-keeper’s daughter – Grace Darling – spotted shipwrecked survivors clinging to the rocks of the Farne Islands, Northumberland. After Grace and her father defied a raging storm to rescue them in an open rowing boat, Grace became a national – and international – celebrity, and was awarded the RNLI’s Silver Medal for Gallantry.
Visual artist Sophie Dixon talks to 200 Voices about how she used a game engine and 3D modelling to give a 185-year-old story a modern telling. Her short film, Grace, explores how, for the lady of the lighthouse, the blinding glare of media attention became too much.
Watch the film here or go to https://www.grace-darling.film/
You can learn more about Grace Darling at the RNLI Grace Darling Museum
Read more about Sophie’s work here or visit https://sophie-dixon.com/Info
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