Dromineer poet at RNLI 200 service in Westminster

Long-serving volunteer with lifeboat team

Dromineer RNLI lifeboat helm Eleanor Hooker took part in the bicentenary celebration of the RNLI in London this month.

Eleanor, a long-serving volunteer with the Dromineer-based lifeboat team, has been widely acclaimed for her many contributions to the poetry canon. She was hugely honoured at being invited to write a poem and then asked to read it at the Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.

The service marked 200 years of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Since being founded in 1824, the charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 144,000 lives.

Throughout this bicentenary year, the RNLI will be commemorating its history, celebrating the lifesaving service it provides today, and aiming to inspire future generations of lifesavers and supporters.

The service at Westminster Abbey marked this major milestone with a congregation made up of representatives from RNLI lifesaving communities around the UK and Ireland.

In Ireland, the RNLI's 200th anniversary is being celebrated with two special stamps from An Post. Dublin-based artist David Rooney has created two stamp images, which show the moment of rescue between a lifeboat crew member and a person in the water.

RNLI 200 stamps are available online at www.anpost.com/shop (free delivery) and in selected post offices, including all those in RNLI station locations.