RNLI 200 Voices

150. Radio Drama: David O’Driscoll

David, a Watch Officer with the Irish Coast Guard, knows exactly how it feels to listen to the radio for news of a loved one who’s out at sea. As a boy, he was the one listening
When David O’Driscoll was a child, he and his family would gather round his grandmother’s kitchen table to listen to radio exchanges between the Coast Guard and his father, who – as an RNLI coxswain – was out on another rescue. Looking back, he is reminded of a line from the Phil Coulter song Home from the Sea: ‘They gathered in pairs at the foot of the stairs to wait for the radio call.’
David wondered who the other voice belonged to. Today, in his role as Watch Officer in Valentia, he is that voice. His grandmother still listens for updates – but nowadays, it’s David she hears on the radio.
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   
 
 

149. The Prince and the Lifesaver: Mark Criddle OBE

The RNLI’s most decorated serving coxswain on launching to a Greek Prince, and meeting a real one
On the night of 13 January 2008, the crew of the Greek-registered cargo ship Ice Prince was in serious trouble 31 miles off Portland Bill. Arriving on scene in atrocious conditions, the crew of the Torbay lifeboat found the Ice Prince taking on water and listing badly – she was destined to sink beneath the waves. Torbay Coxswain Mark Criddle reflects on the rescue that would earn him an RNLI Silver Medal for Gallantry.
Discover 11 remarkable rescue stories – including Mark’s – in our book, Surviving the Storms.
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   

148. Lifesaving Legacy: Jamie Robson White

In the case of Jamie Robson White – descendant of famous lifesavers – the apple didn’t fall far from the tree
With a heritage like Jamie Robson White’s, it’s no wonder he’s passionate about saving lives at sea – lifesaving is tightly woven into his family history. In this episode, Jamie – full-time Second Coxswain at Humber Lifeboat Station and volunteer at Whitby Lifeboat Station – shares memories of his grandmother first showing him the family tree.
Jamie is a distant relative of Grace Darling and a descendant of Michael Robson – both present at the famous Forfarshire shipwreck rescue in 1838.
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   
 

147. Neigh Problem: Jonathan Connor

A horse is trapped in an oyster bed. The tide is coming in. Kinsale Helm Jonathan Connor on galloping to the rescue
When the pager goes off, RNLI crew never know what to expect. But a horse trapped in an oyster bed? That was a first. Kinsale crew member Jonathan Connor recalls the crisp February morning when the RNLI were called to the rescue of Paddy the horse, whose owner couldn’t swim.
An unusual call out, but Jonathan isn’t new to drama. When he was 17, and a trainee at Kinsale, he was in the lifeboat station and heard a Mayday call over the radio. What he did next helped buy the lifeboat crew vital time to launch to the scene.
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   

146. River Rescue: Michael Swan

Meet the man helping to cut the number of river drownings in Galway
The River Corrib in Galway is fast-flowing and dangerous. In the past, because of a lack of communication and co-ordination between local agencies, when a person entered the river, the RNLI couldn’t get there in time. Galway RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Michael Swan was determined to change that.
He talks about working with other local emergency services and agencies to put an effective, co-ordinated search and rescue plan in place. With innovative technology, improved communication, and awareness and prevention schemes, the RNLI are now able to launch to the rescue in time – and help save more lives.
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   
 

145. Calm Hands on Deck: Aroop Mozumder

The RNLI’s Medical Director on the unique challenges crew face, from performing casualty care on the deck of a lifeboat to coping with traumatic shouts
Aroop Mozumder is the RNLI’s first Medical Director – and he’s a busy man. Having previously put his medical skills to use in war zones and humanitarian disaster zones, Aroop talks about how his experiences as a military doctor have prepared him well for life in the RNLI.  
Acknowledging the difficult conditions in which RNLI crew treat injured and distressed people, Aroop says that practicing ‘good medicine in bad places’ is a tough job and can have traumatic consequences – something that he is working hard to address.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   
Interview by 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   
 

144. Women in Engineering: Holly Phillips MBE

A to E – Principal Engineer Holly Phillips on designing the fastest lifeboat in the RNLI fleet
Holly Phillips has always loved boats, spending most of her life being in them, on them or under them. Having joined the RNLI Poole crew in 1992, and starting as Senior Naval Architect 10 years later, she shaped the evolution of lifeboat engineering during her impressive 21-year career at the RNLI.
In particular, she was instrumental in the design of the fast and manoeuvrable E class lifeboat, and was at the helm of the team that saw the project through from conception to launch. It was this that led to Holly being awarded an MBE by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – which Holly humbly describes as a team effort.
In this episode, hear Holly talk about her inspirational career as a woman in engineering, and why the challenging moments along the way always ended up being the most rewarding.
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
 
 

143. A Fish in Water: Idi Ndiaye

The ripple effect – thanks to Poole’s 2022 RNLI Lifeguard of the Year, Sandbanks’ gain is also Senegal’s
Poole lifeguard Idi Ndiaye is so much at home in the water that his nickname is ‘The Waterman’. Idi, a former military firefighter, ambulance driver and rescue diver, is from Dakar in Senegal – a place where drowning is all too common.
While working as a lifeguard on the beaches there, he once saved three boys at once from a riptide – an act performed without any lifesaving equipment. It led to a place on the RNLI’s Future Leaders course. In this episode, Idi talks about how this in turn led him to set up Swim Safe Senegal, the country’s first lifesaving training association.
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   

142. Joseph Conrad: Hearts of Kindness

In 1923, Joseph Conrad wrote the foreword for Britain’s Life-Boats: The Story of a Century of Heroic Service. Toby Harper shares the author’s thoughts
The author Joseph Conrad’s fascination with the sea began when he was just 13. Inspired by a book he’d read about the search for Sir John Franklin’s lost ships, Erebus and Terror, he spent 19 years in the merchant navy before turning to writing, often penning tales about the sea and those who sail on it. His travels gave rise to some of the stories and characters in books such as Nostromo and Heart of Darkness.
2024 marks 100 years since Conrad’s death. Not long before he died, he wrote the foreword for Britain’s Life-Boats: The Story of a Century of Heroic Service. In this episode, that foreword is read by Toby Harper.
200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   
Interview by the RNLI's Darren Crew
Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls   
Thanks to Toby Harper for lending his voice to this episode
The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200   

141. Doggy Paddle: Reverend William Docherty

When Shaddah the dog chased a ball into the sea, he was quickly swept out. His owner relives the anxious wait for a dog with no off-switch
Shaddah is a cross between a Labrador and a Springer Spaniel. And as anyone who knows Springers knows, they love the water. One March day at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland, Shaddah’s enthusiastic nature got him into trouble.
Determined to retrieve an elusive ball, the black dog was the same colour as the water he was swept out by. And his owner, Reverend William Docherty, had lost sight of him. Reverend Docherty talks about the moments he was forced to consider the prospect of having to go home without his beloved pet.
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