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Jennifer Tweedie

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My Activity Tracking

45
mi

My target 31 mi

How your support helped the RNLI in 2024

437 Lives saved

25,327 People aided by lifeboat crews and lifeguards

9,141 Lifeboat launches

I’m taking on the Mayday Mile Challenge to support RNLI volunteers

This May, I’m completing a mile-a-day challenge to help RNLI crews save lives at sea.

During summertime, more people flock to beaches and coastal towns to make the most of everything they have to offer – from glorious sunshine to adventurous watersports. And as temperatures rise, so do calls from people in trouble in the water.

By answering this Mayday call and giving a gift today, you can make a real, lifesaving difference. Your kindness will help give volunteers everything they need to launch to the rescue, and make sure they’re ready to face their busiest season.

Will you sponsor my RNLI Mayday Mile Challenge and support the courageous crews?

Please help raise funds for the RNLI

Raised

£380 + £84.19 GiftAid

My Goal

£310

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My Achievements

Updated Profile Pic

Self donated

Reached 25% of fundraising target

Reached 50% of fundraising target

Reached 100% of fundraising target

Added a Blog Post

Shared fundraising page

Reached 25% of distance target

Reached 50% of distance target

Reached 100% of distance target

My Updates

Wednesday and Thursday

Thursday 21st May
Ended up a late night last night as I was studying hard online for my SRC (Marine Radio Short Range Certificate) which I’ll get a practical assessment for on Monday (which I only found out about yesterday). Passed the online assessment at least so good to go now for Monday. This is part of the requirements for becoming a helm and means that I’m competent in using the radio onboard the D-class to be able to communicate effectively with the Coastguard and other vessels. Luckily I’d taken Blue out earlier in the day before going to college or he would’ve had a very late night walk! Another 1.81 miles clocked.

Tonight did end up being a late walk (1.59 miles done at 2200, good job it’s still fairly light then) as I’d college all day today (more assessments - my brain is a bit frazzled now!), then off to take Jasper to drum lessons, home for a quick dinner then out again to drop Casey to her cheer class on the way to training at the station. Was an evening out on the Shannon this time to let the new full time mechanic find his sealegs and get a bit of MOB (Man OverBoard) training done. Don’t worry we didn’t put him overboard! We were using a fender to simulate a casualty so we could all have a practice at  manoeuvring the Shannon safely to get it out of the water. 

Before we’d headed out on the boat we had been shown an amazing model of the Shannon which had full working jet engines and incredible detailing right down to the deck lights. It’s about an metre long and apparently it can go at 30 knots which is a bit faster than the real thing! The gentleman who owns it will be bringing it and some other models of past Troon lifeboats along to the Troon RNLI Open Day which will be on 18th July this year. That also happens to be my birthday and if any of you were thinking of getting me a present one of them would be great 😉

Water safety

Tuesday 19th May
Danger Detectives at Dean Castle country park

Monday and Tuesday

Tuesday 19th May
3.61 miles on Monday and 1.3 miles today added to our total. Managed to dodge the rain both days which was a bonus as it wasn’t particularly nice weather overall!

Today was a water safety day for me and I was up at Dean Castle Park for a ‘Danger Detectives’ day. A really great idea where primary 6 pupils from schools in East Ayrshire go along for the day and visit various safety stations for a short 10-15 minute talk. I was doing Water Safety but there was also police, fire and other rescue services there to talk through dangers both outside and in the home. I talked to 145 children and 22 adults from various schools - it was a little bit like Groundhog Day as I’d to give the same talk 14 times but the kids were really engaged and had some great questions too. I’d a nice little spot near the castle by the river which meant that as well as using the ‘spot the dangers’ posters I could point out real dangers on the water. I was under the trees so sheltered from the occasional shower too! The programme has been running over the last couple of weeks but this was the only day I was able to go along to. A great way to pass on important safety information to a large number of children and a good time of year in the run up to summer holidays to remind them of some of the dangers to spot around water and elsewhere. Hopefully this will get rolled out to other areas as well.

Saturday and Sunday

Sunday 17th May
As usual weekends are always busy mostly running the kids around to various activities. Yesterday managed a 1.71 mile walk in the morning before the chaos. Today was another 0.82 miles before a full on day of rugby (kids not me, I’m just the chauffeur, cheerleader, snack provider and first aider!) and then another 1.19 miles after dinner. 

There was another shout this afternoon for the D-class although I wasn’t able to attend as I was up in Glasgow doing the rugby mum thing. It’s definitely starting to get a bit busier shout wise and this will only increase as the summer goes on. The lovely weather quite rightly draws people to the coast to enjoy the beaches and the water. There’s lots of good water safety advice to be found on the RNLI website aimed at different types of water users and it’s definitely worthwhile taking a look at it. To briefly summarise some of it:

- always check the weather and make sure you take appropriate clothing (wetsuits and lifejackets/flotation devices too), wear sunscreen and make sure to take enough food and water with you
- go as a group if you can and stick together
- tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to get back
- take a mobile phone in a waterproof pouch so you can call for help if needed, remember it’s 999 and ask for the coastguard if you get into difficulty on/in water
- consider downloading the what3words app so you can give a good location to emergency services, it really helps them to get to you quickly
- float to live: lay on your back with your arms and legs out (like a starfish), don’t worry if your legs sink a little everyone floats differently 

Anyway stay safe and have fun!

That Friday feeling…

Friday 15th May
End of another week and also marking the midpoint of the MayDay mile. Added another 1.19 miles to our total today comfortably taking us past our target for the month which is great - obviously we’ll keep going for the rest of the month and see how far we can go. More than halfway to our increased target now too so massive thank you to all of you who’ve donated already - you’re all superstars!

As promised here’s the costs for kitting out crew from the RNLI website:

Helly Hansen layered clothing and boots (ALB) £1,600
Drysuit (ILB) £850
Thermal suit (ILB) £150
Lifejacket £620
Helmet £350
Seagoing gloves £25

So for each ALB crew member that’s a total of nearly £2600 and for ILB best part of £2000 to be suitably dressed to go on a shout. We don’t have a personal lifejacket or helmet at Troon (these are both adjustable so can be made to fit any crew member) but the rest of the kit needs to be fitted for each crew member and with over 20 crew, many of whom are trained to go on both the ALB and ILB, you can see how the costs rack up. Not forgetting that shore crew also need to have suitable footwear, high visibility and weather proof dungarees and jackets plus lifejackets and helmets you can see how kit costs really rack up. That’s why all your donations are so important, they might be used for keeping crew in the right PPE to help save lives at sea.


Catch up for Wednesday and Thursday

Thursday 14th May
Been a busy couple of days for various reasons but have managed to get some miles in with another 2.07 miles yesterday and 1.7 miles today. The weather’s not quite as lovely as it has been but I’m enjoying getting out and about with the mutt. We were impressed by all the runners who took part in the Troon 10k race yesterday evening, the race passes our house and the whole family were out cheering them on and offering orange wedges to those that wanted. Keith was hoping to take part but couldn’t because of his bursitis - I’ll be leaving the running to him when he’s able again!

Thought I’d tell you a bit about the kit we wear as crew on the ALB (All Weather Life Boat which is the Shannon for us) and the ILB (Inshore Life Boat, our D-class).

ALB

Wellies
- iconic yellow boots to keep our feet dry & steel toed/steel in sole to protect us from standing on sharp things or things dropping on our feet

Helmet
- protects our head, visors to protect our eyes

Jacket 
- we have two, a lighter inner layer ideal for sunnier days on its own or for layering and a foul weather jacket which has a fold away hood and keeps us cosy and dry in even the most horrible weather. Lots of pockets  to keep hats and sweets in.

Dungarees
- keep us dry and warm, Velcro straps at the ankles are done up tight to the boots to stop water getting up. 

Lifejacket
- very important piece of kit to keep us safe and has lots of handy pockets to stow flares, PLBs (Personal Locator Beacon), casualty care cards & pen to write on them, penknife. On the ALB these will inflate automatically if we enter the water.

ILB

Drysuit 
- think of a big yellow onesie with integral wellies and black reinforced patches! These keep us cosy and dry as long as we keep the zip done all the way up and look after the rubber neck and cuff seals.

Thermal suit 
- this is also like a onesie which we wear underneath our drysuit to keep us warm. Sometimes called a teddy bear suit as some of them are fluffy fleecy material, mine is more like a sleeping bag/puffa jacket style.

Thermal top and bottoms
- the base layer for under the drysuit, if it’s really warm you can get away with just these rather than layering a teddy bear suit on top, although when it’s cold you definitely appreciate all the layers you can get!

Helmet
- protects our head and the visor keeps spray out of our eyes. We’ve also just been given a waterproof hood to wear underneath the helmet to keep our heads and necks warm.

Gloves
- keeps your hands warm, you can get pretty chilly zipping about on the D-class as there’s no canopy to protect you from the elements.

Lifejacket
- on the ILB these are really buoyancy aids first and foremost so look bulkier than the ALB lifejackets. We can inflate them manually if needed, automatic inflation would cause them to go off all the time as you can get quite wet with all the spray or rain in the D-class! These also have pockets filled with the same things as the ALB lifejacket.

I can’t seem to get the RNLI page up to get the costs for all the kit just now but will try again tomorrow.

Water Safety….

Tuesday 12th May
2.19 miles this morning after I’d finished my SECTT test and before heading out to a Water Safety team catchup. SECTT test is basically a maths test which you have to take before you can become an apprentice electrician, no calculators allowed. Will have to wait and see how I did with that!

One of the roles I have within the RNLI is as a Water Safety Advisor. We have a small team of 3 who do water safety at Troon and are currently recruiting for extra volunteers to come and help us, you can see the full details on www.volunteering.rnli.org but be quick if you’re interested as applications close on the 24th May.

This is a really busy time of year for us with lots of requests to deliver water safety advice to schools throughout Ayrshire, host visits to the lifeboat station for various groups young and old, hold lifejackets clinics and attend various events. It’s really interesting and satisfying to be able to pass on advice which could help save a life. We get lots of training to make sure we know our stuff and how to pass on the information as well as more specialised training to be able to hold lifejacket clinics and so on. 

Another aspect of the water safety team’s work is to identify local risks and work with other agencies to try and reduce or prevent them. A great example of this is the windsocks which have been installed along beaches in Troon and which are now being placed along other beaches in South Ayrshire. Vince, who for a long time was the water safety team until Jim and I joined him, noticed an increase in the number of paddle boarders and other water users getting caught out by the offshore winds and needing the RNLI’s help. He was able to use our shout map (basically a map with dots to show each call out location) to show that the bulk of these shouts were fairly close to shore and centred around the local beaches and worked with South Ayrshire Council to get the windsocks put up at Barassie Beach, Troon beach by the kiosk and at the South beach car park. These give a really easy visual indication of which way the wind is blowing and their location means anyone coming onto the beach from the car parks can easily see them. They’ve been up a bit more than a year now and the shout map shows a big difference in the number of call-outs around Troon to folk caught out by the offshore winds. South Ayrshire council is now getting them put up at Prestwick and Ayr beaches and various other places along the coast. A really simple idea but one that really works.

Unfortunately Vince is out of action having damaged his Achilles tendon so today’s meeting was to try and see which of the planned water safety events can go ahead without him. Hopefully if we can get a few more people recruited it’ll mean that in future we’ll be able to have enough volunteers that we won’t have to say no to events and be able to have enough cover in case of unforeseen circumstances. As with all the volunteers at the RNLI we all have other commitments so can’t be available all the time and a lot of the water safety events tend to be requested for during week days or over the weekends.

Anyway if you’re interested then get your application in and come join our team. If you’re not local to Troon then have a search of the RNLI website, there might be other volunteering opportunities at a station near you!

Boats and more boats…

Tuesday 12th May
Had a good walk with Keith and Blue yesterday to add another 3.41 miles to our total. We walked part of the smugglers trail which was full of bluebells.

I was down at the station at lunchtime to crew in the Shannon for a mechanic pass out. Lovely day for it and the mechanic passed their assessment so all good. Then home for a couple of hours before going back to the station for Monday evening training. Was out on the D-class training as helm with an experienced helm to keep me right and a couple of new crew. We went through a scenario of an engine fire and talked through what to do, put out the sea anchor (a simple but useful bit of kit that looks a little like a small parachute on a rope which you put into the water and it acts as an anchor, it turns the boat head to sea which is a safe aspect and reduces chance of capsize/swamping from the waves), talked through how to make a MayDay call and then went into an anchoring and veering practice before heading back to harbour and letting one of the new crew bring us into the berth. A great chance for me to teach the new crew, I find talking other people through what to do really helps me to cement my own knowledge!

Incidentally if you need to make a MayDay call here’s what you need to pass on:

M - Mayday mayday mayday
I - ident x 3
R - Repeat
P - Position
D - Distress (tell them what’s happened)
A - Assistance needed
N - Number of people onboard
I - Intentions/information
O - Over
 

Beach walk and a shout

Sunday 10th May
Decided to take Blue along the beach this morning as it was such a lovely day. We did 2.18 miles in the glorious sunshine, it was quite busy so Blue didn’t get to do his usual zoomies and splashing about but still had fun. He loves to walk along the wall on the promenade, I think he likes the higher vantage point and being able to spy on everyone on the beach! We spotted a dog paddle boarding - not sure we’ll be trying that anytime soon but it looked like fun.

Came home, had lunch and started a bit of gardening before the pager went off just after 2pm. Was a request for the D-class to go to the aid of a yacht that had hit something just outside the harbour. I didn’t get on the crew today but had a good chinwag with everyone who turned up whilst the D-class did its thing. The yacht had hit Mill Rock and although it had been stuck it had managed to get free by the time the D-class arrived so was escorted back to the harbour, thankfully everyone safe and uninjured. It was a first shout on the D-class for one of our newer crew and they saw some dolphins so everyone was happy!

Reminded me of my first shout which was out on the D-class to take over a tow of a motorboat which the Trent (the ALB we had before the Shannon arrived) had towed from a few miles away. We met them outside the harbour and put the casualty vessel into an alongside tow to bring them into the marina and it was also a beautiful sunny day, flat calm and we saw dolphins. 

Anyway a good reminder of why I’m raising money with my MayDay mile. 

Weekend wander

Saturday 9th May
2.53 miles done this afternoon between rain showers. Should’ve been out this morning but ended up taking Keith to hospital! He’d given plasma yesterday and woke up this morning with a very sore and swollen knee. I was worried incase he’d got a clot or something but fortunately ended up being bursitis - still not very nice but could’ve been worse! Incidentally if you don’t already give blood, platelets or plasma then that’s another fantastic way you can also help save lives. Check out www.scotblood.co.uk for more information about that.

Then off to pick up some new additions to the family menagerie, 5 rescue hens from BHWT now settling in and already a couple of eggs. We have a chicken naming policy whereby they get named for whatever national day it is on the day we get them so this lot are Train, Sock, Buckfast, Butterscotch and Donkey. They look a bit bedraggled and lacking in feathers just now but will hopefully settle in and fluff up soon. If you fancy giving some hens a new home then take a look at www.bhwt.org.uk

My MayDay mile wristband arrived today so will be wearing that when doing my miles from now on. Remember any donations big or small go a long way to helping the RNLI save lives at sea. A massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far, it’s really appreciated.


Belated update

Friday 8th May
Missed up on my update yesterday as I had another course, home for a quick dinner and a 1.15 mile walk with Blue before heading down to the station for training on the D-class. 

At Troon we have training most Monday and Thursday evenings. These training sessions allow crew to practice their skills so that when we get a call out we know exactly what to do and can work together effectively as a team. There are lots of different roles that you can undertake on the boats and ashore and for each role there are competencies that you need to be proficient in to be signed off, training enables crew to keep these up to date. 

Last night I was training as helm under supervision of a competent helm and we had two crew training towards their sign offs for crew and tier 1 crew on the D-class. Before you can go to sea you need to have had a crew medical and completed a CEP (Crew Emergency Procedures) course at Poole where amongst other things you learn how to re-right a capsized D-class and use pyrotechnics. Back at station you get assessed on your knowledge of PPE and the boat layout. Now you can go on the boat! Then you start working towards a Tier 1 pass out by getting trained in various procedures (such as towing, anchoring and veering) which makes you a more useful crew member. Next comes Tier 2 which is more in depth and means you can direct other crew and become more proficient in boat handling. Becoming a navigator means that you can use the nav equipment to input safe routes and also create and manage search patterns. Finally helm means you are competent to take overall command of the D-class. 

Lots of training is involved for each of these roles which is why the training nights are so important to both learn and refresh skills. Usually both the Shannon and D-class go out on training nights so they can simulate various scenarios together or separately. Sometimes other RNLI stations such as Largs or Girvan will train alongside us as well as the coastguards and coastguard helicopter. It’s all great practice for when we need to use these skills in anger.

Anyway before I forget a quiet evening walk today with Blue for 2.1 miles which was a very pleasant way to end a busy week of training. Have had great fun on the GWO course and am now certified in Fire Safety, First Aid, Safe Manual Handling and Working at Height. 

Wednesday wanderings

Wednesday 6th May
A short 1.16 mile wander with Blue this evening as I was on a course all day and Keith had already taken him for a long walk earlier. 
My course was first aid training today at 360° training in Ayr. One of the wind turbine companies has sponsored a few dozen Ayrshire College students to attend a training week to get GWO certificates and I was lucky enough to be chosen to go along.

It was an invaluable chance to refresh some of the first aid skills I learnt on my RNLI Casualty Care course but I also learnt some more industry specific skills - for wind turbines falls from height, chemical burns and hydraulic injection injuries are more likely than some of the things we’d encounter with the RNLI. 

Of course we all hope we won’t have to use our first aid skills but the truth is you never know what you might happen across. If you get the chance to a first aid course is a really worthwhile thing to do. There’s a few apps that are also useful to have on your phone which could make a difference in an emergency. Take a look at what3words which will help emergency services find you by giving a unique three word identifier to your location and will pinpoint you to a few square metres accuracy. Defibfinder is another good one to see where your nearest defibrillator is located, worth knowing just incase and if you find there’s none near where you live you might want to fundraise to get one put into your community. If you’ve got a first aid qualification then GoodSAM is another great website, you can register on there and if someone near you needs help emergency services can alert you so you can provide first aid until the ambulance arrives.

Quick stroll

Tuesday 5th May
Keith had already taken Blue out for a 7km run this morning whilst I was doing a Fire Awareness course so kept it short this afternoon with a 1.24 mile power walk. 
As promised here’s some more information on costs for the RNLI. So Troon’s Shannon as I’d already said cost about £2.78 million but what about the D-class (or the wee boat as I like to call it)?Well she (ours is called Sheena after the main donor) would cost £101,000 to replace. 
The D-class may be small but is definitely mighty and the RNLI have been using variations of it since the 1960s. Every available space is crammed full of equipment to enable the crew to assist anyone needing help. Normally there will be 3 crew onboard. You’ll often hear the D-class referred to as the ILB which stands for Inshore LifeBoat, because of her shallow draft she’s perfect for getting close to shore and going up rivers or anywhere shallow where the Shannon might not be able to go. The D-class has a top speed of around 25knots and an endurance of 3 hours. At Troon it’s stored on its trailer in the garage and normally launched by the davit (like a mini crane) which lifts her up and over the harbour wall before lowering her into the water by the pontoon ready for the crew to get in. We also have a Land Rover which we can use to launch her from beaches, slipways, etc. It’s a really fun boat to go in because of its speed and manoeuvrability but can be a bit miserable if you’re out on a long shout when it’s cold and wet weather as you’ve no protection from the elements apart from your PPE (I’ll write about PPE another time). As crew you kneel on a ‘mattress’ and in choppy seas this can be fairly punishing on your knees (and other joints!) so crew retire from the D-class at 55 years old.

May the Fourth be with you…

Monday 4th May
Had a short 1.06 mile walk this morning and decided this glorious afternoon to walk to the lifeboat station and back which added another 5.12 miles to our total. Today marks one year since Troon’s Shannon arrived and I was lucky enough to be part of the crew that brought her up from Poole. She’s called Roy Barker VI and is named after a very special gentleman whose legacy has funded 6 lifeboats so far. To give an idea of his generosity a Shannon costs about £2.78 million! 
Obviously I don’t expect I’ll be getting donations that big but anything you can spare will go towards helping the RNLI save lives at sea. Over the next few days I’ll give you some information on the cost of kit for the crew and some of the other costs involved.

Colourful walk

Sunday 3rd May
Another 2 miles in the bag today walking to Fullarton woods and back again. Love this time of year - it’s like someone spilt a paintbox! A bit of rain had knocked off a lot of cherry blossom which turned the pavements pink, add in the rhododendrons, azaleas, bluebells, tulips, gorse, primrose and all the other flowers and it was beautiful. Accompanied by Jasper on his scooter today.

Changing goals…

Saturday 2nd May
As my generous sponsors so far smashed my original target before I’d even started, I’ve raised my goal to £310. This is £10 a day for the 31 days of the challenge. Remember every donation no matter how much goes towards helping the RNLI save lives at sea. Don’t forget to gift aid if you’re a UK tax payer to make your donation go further. Thanks in advance you wonderful people.

Playing with Strava

Saturday 2nd May
1.79 miles along the beach today and decided to write a little message - fairly chuffed how it came out as I was doing it ‘blind’. Not such a nice day today but the rain didn’t last long!

Ready for the off!

Friday 1st May

May 1st - start of our Mayday Mile challenge

Friday 1st May
Blue and I off to a flying start with a 2.4mile walk this afternoon. Blue looking very fetching with his RNLI bandana on. We met and chatted to a few people about the Mayday Mile and were joined for the first half of our walk by Casey on her way to a friends house.
Thank you to everyone who has donated already to help us pass our target before we even started our challenge. You’re all amazing and your donations will make a big difference. If you can share this fundraising page that would be wonderful and let’s see how much Blue and I can raise 😀


Jenn & Blue’s Mayday Mile

Wednesday 22nd Apr
The mutt and I will be taking part in the Mayday Mile together to raise funds for the RNLI. As a volunteer crew member with the RNLI at Troon I’m very aware of the work the RNLI does and also the costs involved in making sure the crew have the right equipment and training to save lives at sea. The RNLI relies on donations to be able to do its work, it is not funded by the government, so any donations no matter how big or small will make a difference.

Thank you to my Sponsors

£45.74

Anonymous

Well done

£33.15

Margaret Stevenson

You are doing really well. Your Fund Raising Team are very proud of you.

£22.80

Jill Keene

Good luck with your challenge Jennifer! From the Keen’s

£22.80

Darryn Nicol

£22.80

Eiblin Powell

Well done Jen!!

£21.84

Deborah Warburton

Good luck to you (and Blue) and well done. From us both xxx

£21.84

Aileen Mccorkell

Good luck

£21.84

Mum

Good luck. Great cause.

£21.84

Hils & Stevo

Good luck Jenn & Blue!

£21.84

Sydney Cormack

Enjoy!

£20

Aisling Bird

Well done to you and Blue, what a lovely month for the challenge!

£17.10

Graeme Whiteford

Go Jenn! What a great cause!

£11.33

Caherine Jones

£11.33

Judith Steven-setchell

Hoping May gives you good weather!

£11.33

Aileen Craig

Good luck Jen. Thanks for being a volunteer!!

£10

Natalie Kelly

Well done so far!! Incredible cause x

£10

Offline Donations

£10

Jennifer Tweedie

£10

The Fullards

£6.18

Melanie Duncan

Good luck , such an amazing cause!

£6.18

Lorna Laidlaw

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