Falmouth Harbour Office has joined forces with Falmouth RNLI, providing the prime site of a new shop for the charity as it seeks new volunteers to join the team helping raise vital funds for its local lifesavers.
The RNLI shop and volunteers are now hosted and co-located with the Falmouth Harbour front office team at 44 Arwenack Street – a perfect fit between the maritime organisations and the bustling footfall of local community and visitors to the historic waterfront.
The RNLI’s former shop was located within the lifeboat station building, further towards Falmouth Docks, but closed in December 2022 as the space was required for new changing facilities for the volunteer crew. The crew of 37 is around 25 per cent female now and the additional space is being converted into a much needed new changing area.
Thanks to the support of Falmouth Harbour, the shop is now in its busy new location on Arwenack Street and the charity threw open it doors in time for Falmouth’s International Sea Shanty Festival which drew thousands of people into the town.
RNLI volunteers with their buckets operating out of the new base raised more than £20,000 over the Festival weekend, putting them at the top of their 36 South West shops’ sales leaderboard.
Andy Bramwell, Community Manager for Cornwall, says, “Falmouth’s lifeboat has a proud history so I’m delighted for the station and its volunteers that we have our new shop in a part of town with more footfall. It means our supporters can find us much more easily and the volunteer shop crew are able to raise more funds for Falmouth’s lifeboats and their crews.
“As with all RNLI shops, we depend on volunteers to open the doors and we are looking for new volunteers to get involved in what is already a busy shop in an RNLI town.”
The new shop is selling a wide selection of RNLI gifts and souvenirs from homeware and clothing, to toys and cards – and it is already a popular hit among it customers.
“It’s a wonderful new site,” said Jan who lives locally. “They were a bit tucked away before and now being here on the high street so many more people can support it – it’s just wonderful and it looks great.”
Meanwhile 7 year old Jake said, “For my half term holiday with my Dad we have visited nine RNLI shops and this one in Falmouth is great. We started at Poole and stayed in the college. We live in Hereford and I like the RNLI boats a lot.”
Holly Manvell, Falmouth Harbour’s Head of Commercial Operations says, “We are delighted to have the RNLI ‘at home’ alongside us in our Falmouth Harbour office. Their much-valued legacy and hard work to protect us all at sea is greatly appreciated.
“Falmouth Harbour is a marine hub in a sea-faring town, with over 2,500 water-going customers and over 110 sq km of water to oversee including 54km of coast and 80km perimeter of harbour. With all that in mind it’s incredibly humbling and exciting to be being able to support the local operation of our nations’ much-loved institution. Welcome, RNLI!”
To find out more about how to volunteer please contact Andy Bramwell southwestvolunteers@rnli.org.uk or apply online at rnli.org/volunteer and search for Falmouth.
For more on the work of Falmouth Harbour visit www.falmouthharbour.co.uk
