Celebrations held for two long-standing Lymington and Mudeford RNLI team members who are retiring from the service

TWO long-serving RNLI team members have been praised for their dedication and commitment as they stepped down from their positions.

Colleagues at Lymington lifeboat station presented retiring Mike Webb with a certificate acknowledging his support, while Mudeford’s station hosted a farewell brunch for Richard Stride.

Lymington RNLI chairman Steve Billet paid tribute to Mike for being involved with the team and supporting it “for as long as we can remember”.

Having taken on several roles in his time, his most significant was as honorary secretary from 1997 to 2013.

During this time, Mike was credited with playing a major role in the station’s development.

Steve said: “Even after his retirement from that role, he continued to contribute his time and skills supporting fundraising for the station and only stood down from that activity this year.

“For all that he has contributed over the many, many years of his involvement, the RNLI in Lymington want to say a huge thank you to Mike and wish him a long and happy retirement – free of pagers and shouts.”

Volunteer Mudeford crew members and their families recently gathered for a barbecue brunch to thank Richard for all his help upon his retirement.

Having first joined as launch authority in 2005, the local fisherman became lifeboat operations manager (LOM) in 2014.

This saw him take on responsibility for the oversight of all day-to-day processes and operations before deciding to step down after nearly 10 years.

Looking back on his time in the role, Richard said: “The greatest satisfaction I have is seeing how the station has grown and developed and I am very proud to have played a part in making the station what it is today.”

The event also saw Richard formally hand over to his successors, Steve Doe and Tim Hewett, who will share the LOM duties.