Newhaven lifeboat manager receives MBE in New Years Honours List 2022

66-year-old Roger Cohen is the lifeboat operations manager at Brighton and Newhaven Lifeboat Station. He was awarded an MBE For his services to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and charity.

He joined Brighton in 1982, serving as crew and helm for 18 years, and in the same position at Tower in London for 13 years (where he completed 327 shifts and 149 service calls), before taking on the additional role of launch authority at Brighton, a position he still holds today.

For 39 years, the Newhaven local has strived to make the RNLI more inclusive and progressive.

Under Roger's leadership, Brighton became the first station to take part in a Pride Parade and became the first LGBT+ accredited station in the RNLI

During his long standing service at these stations, Roger was directly involved in 2,260 lifeboat launches resulting in 248 lives saved to date.

He said on receiving the MBE: “I was overwhelmed and humbled when I first heard the news. I saw the white envelope on the dining room table marked ‘Urgent, Personal, Cabinet Office’ and you wonder what it is, but when I opened it, it was a very good surprise.”

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