Bertie’s 80th birthday gift to local lifeboat station

A LERWICK man who recently celebrated his 80th birthday by asking folk to make donations to the Lerwick Lifeboat has presented the local station with a cheque for a remarkable £1,175.

Bertie Tait asked people to make donations instead of giving him presents, and the money will help towards the cost of buying a heat-seeking camera for the station.

The cameras cost around £20,000 and can be very useful for searching in conditions of poor visibility or bad light. They are not currently supplied by the RNLI to crews.

Lerwick Lifeboat operations manager Malcolm Craigie said: “It’s a very kind and thoughtful gesture from Bertie, and we very much appreciate it.

“These cameras are very expensive, but could play a vital part in searching for someone in the water, or who is perhaps lost on a cliff.

“In these circumstances, anything that helps us find them quicker can be the difference between life and death.

Advertisement7 of 10

“Bertie’s donation will establish a fund which we hope will eventually allow us to buy a camera for the station. Normally when we receive donations, they go into a general fund, but if folk would like to give money specifically for a particular item we are delighted to do that whenever we can.”