South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade’s 150th Anniversary will be the focus of next Wednesday’s Heritage Club talk taking place in South Shields.
Tom Fennelly, the B=brigade’s Honorary Secretary, will give an illustrated talk ‘Always Ready’ for 150 Years about the remarkable history, development and future of the brigade at the theatre at Central Library, South Shields, at 2pm, on Wednesday 11 May.
South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade, which is one of the first volunteer life brigades in the country, is celebrating its 150th Anniversary with a series of events throughout the year to mark this special milestone.
The Borough’s volunteer life brigade was officially formed on January 30, 1866, to help the coastguard prevent loss of life on the south side of the River Tyne and the coast as far as Whitburn. It was the first organisation in the world to use the breeches buoy to save lives from a shipwreck.
Every day since its formation the brigade has been ready 24hours a day, 365 days a year, to help those in peril on the sea, along with the HM Coastguard, RNLI lifeboats and other emergency services.
Last year the brigade was awarded £50,500 form the Heritage Lottery Fund to organise a year-long programme of events and activities to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its formation. Tom will speak about some of the key events that have already taken place in the Borough and about the brigades upcoming events later in the year.
Tickets for the talk are £1 each. They are available from the Reference Department at the Central Library, South Shields, or telephone (0191) 424 7864 to reserve a ticket or for further information.