Sheringham Shoal grant enhances launch and recovery for Sea Palling lifeboat
The Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm, operated by Equinor, makes a donation of £100,000 per annum to the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, and a grant from the Fund enabled the Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat Station in North Norfolk to take delivery of a new Argocat all-terrain amphibious rescue vehicle in late 2022.
“What a game changer this has proven to be”, says Chris Ball, Vice Chairman of the Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat. As a lifeboat service we had always recognised the difficulty of transporting casualties from the beach to the lifeboat station or an ambulance in a safe manner. This“ can often be over a mile in challenging conditions, so our volunteer crews, and those who they rescue, have benefitted greatly since the Argocat came into service.”
Since 2017 the use of the Inshore Lifeboat, towed by a quad-bike, had been used as the method of casualty transportation, but it was recognised that this was not an ideal solution.
Sea Palling Lifeboat Station›s Argocat in Responder mode
Image courtesy of Chris Ball
When the quad-bike came to the end of its useful life, the concept of using an Argocat was researched and investigated by the Sea Palling Lifeboat team.
Its appeal was that as a multi-wheeled vehicle it could work on the sand and in the surf, thus able to tow the inshore lifeboat during launch and recovery. Importantly, it would also be able to transport crew and equipment and, in the Responder version, could accommodate a full-sized stretcher with the facility for a lifeboat crew member to continue casualty first aid on the move.
The Argocat is an amphibious vehicle, meaning the hull is watertight and all the mechanical running gear is inside and fully protected from the corrosive effective of salt water.
Further modifications to Sea Palling’s Argocat included roof top stretcher storage, additional lighting, a comprehensive first aid kit and VHF radio. It can also carry additional job dependent equipment, such as defibrillators and oxygen.
“We have developed a number of procedures for the safe deployment of the Argocat, and its use and operation are now part of our weekly training activities, ” said Chris Ball.
He continued:
“The Sea Palling Independent Lifeboat is a self-funded, registered charity and only though the generous support of the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, and other key contributors, were we able to make the investment in an Argocat.”
By the end of 2023, the Sheringham Shoal Community Fund, which is administered by the Norfolk Community Foundation (www.norfolkfoundation.com), had awarded grants of over £1.2m since its establishment in 2010.
About Equinor in Norfolk
Equinor is a long-term partner for Norfolk and has been an active member of the community for over a decade through the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms it operates off the Norfolk coast.
The Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Masdar and China Resources, whilst Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm is owned by Equinor, Equitix Offshore 5 (co-owned by Equitix and the Renewable Investment Group TRIG) and a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management).
On behalf of its partners, Equinor is also maturing the proposed Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon extension projects (SEP and DEP). SEP and DEP will double the capacity of the existing Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms, providing renewable energy to power an additional 785,000 UK homes and making an important contribution to the UK’s decarbonisation goals.
Currently, the combined output of Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms is sufficient to power around 710,000 UK homes, and the proposed extensions will increase that to nearly 1.5 million UK households.
Both wind farms have established community funds which in total have awarded over £1 million to projects in Norfolk. The funds were set up to provide grants to Norfolk community groups, including schools and charities, seeking financial assistance for projects or initiatives that meet key criteria and focus on renewable energy, marine environment and safety, sustainability, or education in these areas. During 2020, the funds provided grant funding to the Norfolk Community Foundation’s COVID-19 funding initiatives, and during 2021 grant funding has been made available to support Norfolk’s ‘every child on-line’ initiative.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Alice Baxter
UK Media Relations Manager, Equinor
Abax@equinor.com
+44 7557973941
For consultation of community enquiries, please contact:
Nigel Tompkins, the Projects’ Community Liaison Officer based in Norfolk,
nigel@ni4b.co.uk