Princess greets Sussex volunteers at NCI Shoreham, the fifth busiest National Coastwatch station in the country

The visit on Thursday, December 5, marked International Volunteer Day and Her Royal Highness presented three long service awards as part of the visit.

The volunteers said it was an extra reason to celebrate. The Princess Royal is Royal Patron of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI), a charity run entirely by volunteers. This year it celebrates its 30th anniversary of helping to save lives around the coast.

The visit to Shoreham Beach was the Princess Royal’s seventh NCI station visit this year. NCI chair Stephen Hand told her it is the fifth busiest station in the country.

Mr Hand added: "Your visit marks the 16th year of NCI Shoreham working to help our search and rescue partners to save lives along the coast and you have heard how active the station is, in particular spotting leisure users who get into distress.

"In its history, the station has been involved in 274 search and rescue incidents, initiating 154 of those rescues. The visit has been a source of enormous encouragement and motivation to our volunteers."

The historic station was originally built during the Second World War as part of the emergency coastal battery at Shoreham Fort. It housed a powerful searchlight designed to spot enemy vessels approaching the coastline.

After the war, it appeared in the film Battle of the V1, before being used to house the fuses for the harbour lights for the reconstructed harbour entrance in the 1950s.

The building was then largely left untouched until 2008, when the volunteers of NCI completely rebuilt and equipped it as a new lookout along the busy stretch of the coast between Brighton and Worthing.

Colin Clay, Shoreham station manager, said: "As one of the busiest Coastwatch stations in the NCI, I’m very pleased that all the hard work that we do has been recognised by a visit by Her Royal Highness.

"We have been working extremely hard in preparation of the arrival of Her Royal Highness, and I’m delighted that the effort has paid off. It went very well, she puts you at ease straightaway.”

The Princess Royal was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of West Sussex, Lady Emma Barnard.

Stephen and Colin escorted her into the station for a private briefing about the work of the highly-trained volunteer watchkeepers and their part in helping to save lives around the coast.

Mr Clay presented the two duty watchkeepers, Dennis Holden, deputy station manager for training, and NCI Shoreham founding member Paul Cornford.

Her Royal Highness was briefed on the coastal risks at Shoreham and the work of the volunteers, who have been involved in more than 40 incidents in which 12 people were rescued in the past 12 months.

All 2,800 National Coastwatch volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger.

They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent, including the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.

Situated on the western side of Shoreham Harbour entrance and mouth of the River Adur, NCI Shoreham oversees the busy coastline between Brighton and Worthing. The wide variety of marine users that come within sight of the station include commercial vessels, fishing kayakers, large dredgers carrying aggregate for the construction industry, small sailing dinghies, kite surfers, rowing boats, jet skis and swimmers.

After visiting the station, the Princess Royal attended a reception at Shoreham Sailing Club. Lady Emma presented NCI sector manager David Taylor, East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tom Rutland, Adur District Council chairman Adrienne Lowe and Shoreham Sailing Club Rear Commodore Tyler Harmsworth.

Stephen thanked Her Royal Highness before she unveiled a plaque to commemorate the visit. The plaque will be placed in the Shoreham station.

He said: "It’s been an incredibly special year for us as we’ve celebrated our 30th anniversary of helping to keep people safe on the coast and save lives at sea. The year has been punctuated by the very special highlights of HRH The Princess Royal’s visits and we’re both honoured and fortunate to have her patronage.

"Without exception, these visits always lift our spirits and create the perfect opportunity to celebrate lifesaving work and bring together our volunteers, friends and supporters from local communities.”

The reception was attended by around 45 NCI watchkeepers and guests, including Shoreham RNLI, HM Coastguard Shoreham and Shoreham Port Authority. Also present were NCI Shoreham patron Richard Durrant, Chief Constable Jo Shiner, Shroeham Beach councillor Joss Loader and Friends of Shoreham Fort chairman Gary Baines.

The Princess Royal presented long service awards to Mike Hobbs for 15 years, Tim Tuson for five years and Craig Searle for five years.

She said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to visit as many of the NCIs as I can. It is a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much.”