Brighton lifeboat volunteer Chris Townley reaches 100 call-outs

Chris Townley had never set foot on a boat when he joined Brighton RNLI in January 2021. He has now been out on 100 lifeboat call-outs from the station.

Over those 100 shouts he has helped 65 people and been part of crews credited with saving 12 lives. He started as a volunteer launch authority, the land-based role in command of the station when it responds to a call, and moved onto the crew in 2023. Counting training exercises, he has taken part in 240 launches and spent nearly 15 full days at sea.

“I had moved to Brighton not long before and was looking to make friends and do some volunteering, and it felt right that it should be something to do with the sea, given where I now live,” he said in comments reported by the Argus¹, which covered the milestone this week.

The people are a big part of it for him. “The crew come from all sorts of backgrounds, people I would not normally have any chance to spend time with, and that is a large part of the pleasure of it,” he said.

Since joining the crew he has kept a notebook of every call-out, with the conditions, the people involved and the lessons learned.

Charlie Dannreuther, the station’s lifeboat operations manager, said Townley “was a core member of the team at Brighton Lifeboat Station long before his 100th shout.”

Townley also thanked his wife, Inma. “She is proud of what I do. But hers is a real sacrifice, without the rush and the fun that go with mine, and I am very grateful that she supports me in this adventure,” he said.

The station is looking for more people like him. As we reported on Tuesday, it wants six new inshore lifeboat crew and two launch authorities, and applications close on Sunday 25 October. Training is provided, and the listing says: “We are not looking for heroes but for people who can be calm under pressure, who look out for others and who love to see their team thrive.”