RNLI 200 Voices

160. It Takes a Village: Shona Thomson

The creator of Launch! - a film about Scotland’s RNLI lifeboat crews - on why sound was key to portraying what lifeboat stations mean to local communities
Film-maker Shona Thomson knows that it takes a whole community to launch a lifeboat. To underline the deep connection that locals have with their lifeboat station, Shona wanted an immersive score that would do justice to the archive footage she was unearthing for her film: Launch! On The Sea With Scotland’s Lifeboats.
Acclaimed musicians - Jason Singh, Arun Ghosh, Jenny Sturgeon, and John Ellis - answered the call, taking inspiration from the power of the sea and the sounds and stories discovered in the RNLI’s collection. The resulting score is a 5.1 surround soundtrack designed specifically to be experienced at the cinema. And the resulting film - co-produced by Screen Argyll - has toured communities across Scotland. 
In this episode, Shona explains how the film - featuring footage that dates back as far as the 1920s - came together.
Watch the Launch! trailer
Or visit: https://www.akindofseeing.co.uk/projectsblog/launch
Listen to the full-length soundtrack on Spotify
Or search Spotify or Apple Music using: 'Launch! On The Sea'
Launch! will be showing at the Oban Phoenix Cinema on 9 March 2024.
To learn more about Shona’s work and contact her about screening Launch! in your community, visit:
www.akindofseeing.co.uk
Find out more about Screen Argyll at www.screenargyll.co.uk
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   
 

159. Anchored in the Sea: Alice Higgins

When Alice Higgins isn’t saving lives she’s saving lives. Meet the Lead Lifeguard Supervisor who’s also on the crew at RNLI Weymouth
When she’s not working as Lead Lifeguard Supervisor for Weymouth and Dorset, or volunteering as a crew member for Weymouth Lifeboat Station, Alice Higgins can be found in the sea. Whether it’s a daily dip during the winter months, or bodyboarding in the summer, the water is her happy place.
Alice talks about her lifelong connection to the sea, including how in childhood her brother, who is disabled, loved the beach – and how this inspires her to help make water activities more inclusive.
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   
 

158. Our Last Goodbyes: Vicky Murphy

After Vicky Murphy and husband Marc were cut off by the tide at Chapel Porth Beach, St Agnes, they thought their time – and that of their unborn baby – was up
In 2009, a 34-weeks pregnant Vicky Murphy and her husband Marc were taking a stroll around the headland at Chapel Porth Beach in Cornwall. In no time, the incoming tide had cut them off. Soon, waves were crashing over their heads, and the only thing stopping Vicky from being dragged out to sea was the fact that Marc had hooked one of his arms through the straps on her dungarees.
Marc clung to the rocks, but was losing the battle. It was time for the couple to say their goodbyes. Or so they thought.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   
Interview by the RNLI's Nathan Williams
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   

157. Dizzy Heights: Polly Neate CBE

Clinging to the side of a cliff with a broken ankle and worrying she might faint, climber Polly couldn’t do anything but wait
Polly had gone climbing at Anvil Point in Dorset with her husband. Both were experienced climbers and things were all good until Polly had an accident and fractured her ankle. In pain and with no phone signal, she recalls how her husband had to go and get help while she was dangling off the cliff, trying not to move and injure herself further.
Polly, who’s the Chief Executive of the charity Shelter, talks of the huge relief she felt on seeing the lifeboat. And of how heartened she was – as part of the charity sector herself – by the volunteer crew’s bravery and selflessness.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   
Interview by Hallmark Broadcast Media 
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   

156. Giving Back: Natasha Banks

Naval Architect Natasha Banks once thought engineering wasn’t for her. Now she’s inspiring the next generation
Having always enjoyed STEM subjects at school, Natasha went on to study Marine Technology at Newcastle University. Despite at one time wondering if engineering was for her, she found her niche at the RNLI. Now a Naval Architect, Natasha talks about what she enjoys about the role, the pivotal part her mentor played in setting her on her path, and about the prospect of becoming a mentor herself.
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   

155. Remembering the 13: Vic Sutherland

When all but one of the Fraserburgh lifeboat crew were lost in 1970, thousands attended the funeral. Vic Sutherland on the tragedy that sadly wasn’t the lifeboat station’s first
Outside Scotland’s first RNLI lifeboat station stands a statue of a lifeboat crew member watching over Fraserburgh harbour. The memorial – donations for which came from as far afield as Canada and Australia – stands as a tribute to the 13 lifesavers lost in three separate tragedies.
In 1919, two volunteers were swept overboard from the Lady Rothes. Six more were lost in 1953. And when five of the six crew perished in the 1970 disaster, Fraserburgh went without a lifeboat station until 1978. Current RNLI Coxswain / Mechanic Vic Sutherland reveals the toll the losses took on the local community.  
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   
 

154. Daring to Dream: Geoff Holt

Disabled yachtsman and adventurer, Geoff Holt MBE, on achieving his seafaring dreams and inspiring disabled people to get out on the water 
When Geoff was 18, he landed a dream job as First Mate on a luxury yacht in the Caribbean. On the first day there, he dived into the sea and broke his neck, suffering a devastating injury which meant he’s been in a wheelchair ever since. 
Geoff talks about his personal journey, including marrying the nurse who helped care for him in hospital, and how – thinking his sailing dreams were over – he embarked on a different career path.
However, Geoff desperately missed sailing and wanted to do something extraordinary. Hear how he’s done just that, from sailing across the Atlantic and becoming a Vice President of the RNLI, to setting up a charity to help disabled people enjoy the water.  
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   
 
 
 

153. RNLI 200 Voices Interviews: Louise Minchin

Familiar to millions as the former face of BBC Breakfast, hear how RNLI supporter Louise Minchin surprised herself with a midlife love of – and talent for – outdoor swimming 
It’s part of Louise’s family lore that she could swim before she could walk. Her passion for swimming shone during her childhood when she swam competitively until she was 15. 
Louise talks about why she decided to stop racing as a teen, and how her passion for swimming challenges resurfaced with a vengeance in her mid-40s. From the comfort of a pool to tackling a swim to Alcatraz, San Francisco, Louise shares her love of the sea – and why the RNLI is close to her heart. 
Learn more about open water swimming.
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

152. The Sound of Rescue: James Gaskin

Trapped under a sail after being thrown overboard in pitch darkness, James Gaskin thought it was the end. He transports us miles out to sea on a stormy night off The Lizard
Nearing the end of a solo sailing trip from Brittany to Ireland, James was enveloped by a foreboding darkness in the middle of a shipping lane. Caught in squalls, he battened down the hatches, but was thrown overboard. Utterly exhausted, and dreading that a giant tanker might run over him, he thought his time was up.
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   
 

151. Dunkirk Stowaway: Stanley E Holtom

When school friends Stanley and Peter boarded a cabin cruiser in 1940, little did they know they’d play a part in the Dunkirk evacuation
It was the Second World War rescue mission that Winston Churchill called a ‘miracle of deliverance’. The port of Dunkirk was destroyed – its beaches the only escape route for nearly 340,000 retreating allied troops. 
Shallow waters meant that big ships couldn’t get close enough for a mass evacuation. Only the smallest of vessels could reach the shattered soldiers. Responding to a request by Britain’s Ministry of Shipping, an armada of 700 little boats – including pleasure craft and private yachts – quickly formed.
Among the volunteers were RNLI crews from Ramsgate and Margate. And, as chance would have it, aboard a cabin cruiser, 8-year-old Stanley Holtom and his friend, Peter. This is the story of how two little boys came to take part in Operation Dynamo.
Hear more about the RNLI's involvement in Operation Dynamo in episode 15 – Lifesaving in Wartime: John Ray 
Learn more about the RNLI's extraordinary efforts in the Second World War in a special episode of Saving Lives at Sea, presented by Dermot O'Leary. Search Series 9: Episode 1 on BBC iPlayer or visit https://tinyurl.com/4cryn54u
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   
Interview by the RNLI's Eleanor Driscoll
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