RNLI supports SPAR Lancashire School Games baton relay with boat handover between Morecambe and Fleetwood

Hundreds of schoolchildren in Morecambe and Fleetwood saw the RNLI support the Lancashire School Games baton relay handover.

Working in partnership with Active Lancashire and the School Games Organiser Network, the RNLI took to the waves with the baton having received it from children Morecambe Road Special School.

Departing Morecambe to cheering crowds, the baton went out to sea on Morecambe RNLI’s inshore rescue lifeboat, where it met Fleetwood’s all-weather lifeboat for the handover midway.

The baton then returned to shore at Fleetwood and was greeted by schoolchildren from Great Eccleston Copp CE Primary School. It is making its way around the Red Rose County ahead of the SPAR Lancashire School Games Finale in Blackpool’s Stanley Park on Tuesday 5^th July.

The Lancashire School Games have been sponsored by SPAR for 15 years, through SPAR UK’s North of England wholesaler and distributor James Hall & Co. Ltd, based in Preston.

The Games are run by Active Lancashire and the School Games Organiser Network, and they provide children and young people with the opportunities to have fun, develop skills, and achieve personal bests through activities and competitions across the academic year.

The aim of the 2022 Games is to help young people recover from the effects of pandemic, and support those who may have been impacted the most, through activity and positive experiences.

Tim Fletcher, Heysham School Games Organiser, said: “As soon as I heard the baton relay was going to be part of this year’s SPAR Lancashire School Games, I was thinking of a unique way of transporting the baton on to the next of Lancashire’s districts.

“The RNLI were very accommodating to the idea when I approached them, and our valued sponsors at SPAR have been open to the ideas myself and other School Games Organisers have had to passing the baton around the county.

“We had perfect conditions on the water for the handover and I think the event really will have inspired the hundreds of children that were on the waterfront at either Morecambe or Fleetwood.”

Helen Harvey, a volunteer with Morecambe RNLI, said: “From the moment we were asked to do the baton relay exchange, Morecambe RNLI were excited to be involved.

“It is important to us that we are part of the community at Morecambe, and we invest lots of time educating the local schools about the RNLI and water safety.

“It was a great turnout to watch the baton exchange – all the children were very excited, cheering and waving from the shoreline when we took to the waves to meet Fleetwood for the baton handover. I think it has been a fantastic collaboration from all parties involved. The crew had a great time, and we were pleased to be part of it.”

You can find out more about James Hall & Co. Ltd at www.jameshall.co.uk.

Further information on Active Lancashire can be found at www.activelancashire.org.uk.