Peter Phillipson ESM, a regional director of the Marine Rescue Service New South Wales (NSW), will visit Ramsey RNLI lifeboat station on the morning of Friday 27th July. The purpose of his visit is to present a Marine Rescue NSW long service medal to Mr Tony Walters of Ballaugh, a member and former chairman of Ramsey RNLI branch.

Mr Walters became involved with the Australian marine rescue service in 1998 when visiting a cousin of his late wife in St Helens on the North east coast of Tasmania. He was invited to become a member and representative of the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol (RVCP), the oldest volunteer marine rescue service in Australia. Mr Walters and his wife went on to represent the RVCP at many international lifeboat conferences including Poole, UK, Capetown, South Africa and Gothenburg, Sweden.

As with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity in Britain, all members of the RVCP are volunteers, with a large proportion of their time freely devoted to raising funds for the provision of a modern and first class marine lifesaving service. In 2009 the RVCP became part of the Marine Rescue Service NSW.

Mr Walters has been a lifeboat devotee and staunch supporter of the RNLI charity for many years. It was at the age of fourteen he began, in his words, “shaking buckets to raise funds”. He is a long standing member of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society and, before coming to live in the Isle of Man, had been a branch officer and historian for Margate RNLI Station.