Celebrating importance and impact of women in HM Coastguard
As part of International Day for Women
in Maritime, they are also recognising the importance of more women joining the
sector and its impact.
International Day for Women in Maritime
(18 May), is an opportunity to highlight the achievements of women in maritime,
as well as identifying areas of improvement for gender equality.
Bex Owen, Karen Mackenzie, Olivia
Letchford and Molly Luke have been part of HM Coastguard for a number of years,
and all believe this is a day worth marking. Not only to recognise how far the Coastguard
and wider Maritime and Coastguard Agency has come, but to encourage more women
to follow suit.
Bex has been the Senior Coastal
Operations Officer across the coast of south Wales for three years and, off the
northeast coast of England, Molly is Station Officer for the unique Holy Island
Coastguard Rescue Team.
At opposite ends of the country, Karen,
who started her coastguard journey in 2022, is a Coastguard Rescue Officer for
Stornoway in the Western Isles of Scotland, and Olivia, a Coastguard Rescue
Officer for Hayling Island in the depths of Hampshire, follows in her father’s
footsteps.
Here are their insights into being part
of HM Coastguard:
What made you want to join HM
Coastguard?
Bex (pictured left): I have had a love of the coast from a young age. As a keen surfer and volunteer crew member for the RNLI, and ex HART Paramedic, when a fulltime position became available in HM Coastguard, it was a no brainer for me. The opportunity to spend my working day at the coast in a search and rescue capacity felt like the right decision.
Karen: Living
in a coastal community I often saw Coastguard activity and training happening
around the islands, and I was just really interested in the range of work the
Coastguard does. It’s so much part of island life and I really wanted to get
involved to support their work.
Molly: I wanted to join HM Coastguard specifically because Holy Island
relies heavily on the team. Being a tidal island we are cut off from the
mainland twice a day, but the Coastguard is always there for locals and visitors. We want to provide locals a peace of mind that in an
emergency, we are not too far away.
Olivia: My dad has been in the Coastguard for almost 30 years
both as a volunteer, as well as some time in the ops room at
Lee-on-the-Solent. He’s been doing it longer than I have been alive
so I grew up with it! When I was little I was fascinated by it
and always wanted to know what he got up to on call outs. That passion stayed
with me as I grew up and at 19-years-old I decided to join
myself and work alongside dad in the team.
Is it important to mark International
Day for Women in Maritime and the role of women in HM Coastguard?
Karen (pictured right): It’s important to
showcase how much HM Coastguard has progressed in recognising the skills and
experience that women can bring to Coastguard Rescue Teams across the country. It's
an opportunity to spotlight and celebrate the many women who serve in teams
that were traditionally male-dominant.
Molly: I think it's important
to mark a day that celebrates women in any field. I'm in a lucky position that
my team is led by women, my Deputy Station Officer is female and I have a great
balance of women and men on my team. We love women supporting women and by marking
International Day for Women in Maritime, we hope we can give other women the
confidence to find out more about roles in the service.
Olivia: Maritime used to be a male-dominated
industry. In recent years, more and more women have been involved in maritime
and I think it is important that we celebrate this. I am lucky to
work alongside a number of great, inspiring women from local teams.
What’s the best thing about being a part of HM Coastguard?
Bex: I enjoy
being part of such an effective team, from us at area management, to all the
volunteers we work with. I get job satisfaction from seeing the teams put their
training into practice and save lives on the coast.
Karen: Despite the difficult incidents we encounter, it's fun being part
of the team and being encouraged to develop your skills during training and on
shouts. Nothing beats getting down to the station with the team when the
pager goes, feeling like you're part of the Coastguard family, and being able
to harness that team rapport to respond to operational incidents.
Molly (pictured below with team): It doesn't matter what kind of shout you are sent
to, but you know there will always be someone there that will have your back,
someone you can have a good laugh with.
Olivia: I love the camaraderie you get in a
Coastguard Rescue team. They are like a second family.
What has been a highlight or memorable moment during your time with HM Coastguard?
Bex:
I have had numerous
memorable moments. We
completed a rope exercise at Devils Cauldron in west Wales, the satisfaction of
going over the edge at such a high location was amazing.
Karen: One of my more memorable moments in my first year was spending
Hogmanay at the hospital to assist one of the Coastguard helicopters with a
casualty transfer, thinking we were going to bring in the New Year there.
Olivia (pictured below): I was involved in a major evacuation in Selsey where we helped more than 150 people affected by flooding throughout the night. There were so many of us there and we all kept each other going. It didn’t matter which emergency service we were from - we all looked out for each other and worked well to help everyone get to safety. That was by far the largest call out I have ever been on and is certainly one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
