HM Coastguard Station Officer awarded prestigious British Citizen Award

Station Officer Steve Mee receiving his award from British
Citizen Awards Patron, Bradley Walsh
Copyright:  British Citizen Awards
An HM Coastguard Station Officer for Liverpool and Crosby Coastguard Rescue Team has been awarded a prestigious British Citizen Award for service to the community, marking his 38 loyal years with HM Coastguard.

Steve Mee was presented the award at UK Parliament House last week (26 January) after he was nominated for the honour by his UK Coastguard Rescue Team colleagues.  Speaking of his nomination they said:  ‘Steve has given so much of his time to the service as well as holding down a full time job and having a family.  He has been so encouraging and supportive to team members throughout the changes the Coastguard have been through in recent times.  He has a wealth of knowledge, and his fundamental aim is to provide the best possible rescue service to the community by passing on his knowledge and enthusiasm to us in order to achieve that.'

After receiving his award Steve said: ‘This is a huge honour. It’s even more special because I’ve been nominated by those I serve with and it is for them and with them I accept it.’

Danny Jamson, Senior Coastal Operations Officer said: ‘We value our volunteers and the vital lifesaving work they do. They live in the communities they serve in and are a big part of life there. I am privileged to work with Steve Mee and I am pleased that this award officially recognises his hard work and dedication to the local community.’

Steve started volunteering for HM Coastguard 38 years ago as an Auxiliary Watch Keeper in the Radio Operations room. He was taken under the wing of all the wise coastguard full-timers. Having the equivalent of sixteen honorary fathers all pointing him in the right direction, Steve has himself now taken on the mantle of role model and father figure to the younger team members.

HM Coastguard has seen some changes over the years and Steve has steered the team through those times. Through his vision and guidance the team remain a tight-knit and cohesive unit. Throughout his years of service, Steve has been involved with innumerable rescue incidents, both major and minor over the years, one in particular being the Lockerbie disaster on 2nd December 1988. Steve was on duty throughout the incident and it was his Coastguard Operations room which provided invaluable communications to the many rescue helicopters within the disaster area.

In 2006 Steve was promoted to Station officer. He has a vast amount of knowledge of the community and the local area which he happily shares with team members and other emergency services.


Popular posts from this blog

PRESTWICK SEARCH AND RESCUE HELICOPTER SERVICE LAUNCH MARKED IN CEREMONY

Image
- Prestwick search and rescue helicopter base set to go live in January - The launch of the Prestwick civilian UK search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service was marked today (Thursday 17 December 2015) in a ceremony held at the new Coastguard SAR base at Prestwick Airport. Bristow Helicopters Ltd is operating the search and rescue helicopter service for the UK on behalf of HM Coastguard. The UK limited company was awarded the ten-year UK SAR contract by the Department for Transport in March 2013, representing a £1.9bn investment by the UK Government in the UK’s search and rescue helicopter service. By 2017 the service will be delivered from ten bases in all, strategically located close to areas of high SAR incident rates. The Prestwick base will begin SAR operations when crews begin receiving taskings from the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) in January 2016. Bristow crews are delivering the UK SAR helicopter service on behalf of HM Coastguard with state-of-the-a...
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he...
Read more

Coastguard scoops stricken man from surging waves

Image
Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray A man facing the threat of being dashed on the rocks by powerful waves was rescued by a coastguard who hauled him o ut of the surging water.   The alarm was raised at about 9.45am at Skippingstone beach, Bangor, on 1 October when a member of the public reported their concern for a person they had spotted struggling on rocks being pounded by the s e a .   The 999 call was picked up at Belfast Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre which swiftly sent Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) and the local RNLI inshore lifeboat.   First on the scene was Senior Coastal Operations Officer Ryan Gray who, taking in the situation, quic k ly donned a personal float at ion device a ttached to a line.   As the sea surged, Ryan shouted a warning to the man before, seconds later , a wave picked the figure up and threw him to the shore.   The powerful surge carried him up the beach where Ryan was able to step forward and seiz...
Read more