GAFIRS don’t only have lifeboats in their fleet, we also have an incident support vehicle called Gosport Rescue Mobile. This is a specially adapted landrover which allows shore crews to provide assistance to lifeboat crews as well as support incidents which are off road.

As part of the regular maintenance program, the landrover underwent an important overhaul which included corrosion prevention, body respray as well as a new livery. The exterior signage is an important update as it has brought another piece of GAFIRS equipment in line with GAFIRS corporate branding efforts.

Gosport Rescue Mobile carries rope rescue equipment, a land anchor, a compact stretcher, first aid bag as well as a winch and is capable of carrying two lifeguard canoes if they are required to attend an incident such as a mud rescue. It also tows our smaller Inshore Lifeboat, Gosport ILB, to strategic points where it can be deployed to reach casualties quicker, such as at the top of Portsmouth Harbour.

Members gave lifesaving CPR to a fisherman after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the slipway outside the lifeboat station on Sunday afternoon

The fisherman has just returned from a fishing trip on the Solent when he collapsed on the GAFIRS slipway. His friend started CPR and called for help. The call for assistance was heard by our members who immediately went to his assistance.

3 members took over resuscitation and continued to give basic life support, an AED (defibrillator) from the Lifeboat station was used to monitor the casualty and an ambulance was called.

The 3 GAFIRS members, Jake Robinson, an ECA with South Central Ambulance, Tom Clark, a Community First Responder and Joanne Young, a Royal Lifesaving Society Trainer/Examiner continued resuscitation for approximately 5 minutes at which point the patient started to show signs of life and regained consciousness, he then started talking to his lifesavers.

On arrival of the Ambulance the casualty was handed over to the care of the Ambulance crew for transfer to the Queen Alexandra's Hospital.

At 16:20 on Sunday Gosport Lifeboat was tasked to assist a 19' yacht that had dismasted and then run aground near to Pewit Island at the Northern end of Portsmouth Harbour. Due to the falling tide, the Lifeboat crew were unable to reach the Yacht. Solent Coastguard were informed of the situation and arrangements made to return and assist the yacht and 3 persons on board at the next high tide.

The Lifeboat returned at 23:57 to render further assistance. GAFIRS crew took dry clothes, food, hot drinks, a torch and radio for the occupants of the yacht who by then had been aground for just over 7 hours. With sufficient tide to refloat the yacht, it was taken under tow to Wicormarine, Portchester.

The crew were also tasked to assist a 38' Bavaria yacht that had run aground on the Hamilton Bank at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. The yacht was successfully floated and the Lifeboat crew checked for leaks and damage before the yacht continued on its way.

During the course of Sunday Gosport Lifeboat also attended 2 incidents involving rigid inflatable boats, in the first incident GAFIRS were tasked to assist a boat with a fouled propeller which was drifting near to Haslar Sea Wall.

The crew were then paged by Solent Coastguard at 20:56 to assist a broken down rib in Portsmouth Harbour Entrance. The craft with 2 persons abord had suffered engine failure after water ingress caused an electrical short across the battery.

On Saturday evening Gosport Lifeboat was tasked by HM Coastguard to assist the Hamble Independent Lifeboat with the evacuation of a casualty from the cruise liner Crown Princess

A passenger on the liner had suffered a Heart Attack whilst the ship was in Southampton Water. Both Lifeboats assisted with the transfer of the casualty, his wife, two of the ships Doctors and Medical equipment. Both of the Lifeboats made their way to Warsash where the casualty was transferred to a waiting Ambulance.

The Gosport Lifeboat then returned the two Doctors back to the Crown Princess, which was still holding station in the Central Solent.

Volunteers from GAFIRS partnered up with Santa to prepare for Christmas, whilst raising funds for new lifeboat crew personal protective equipment.

Lifeboat crew, fundraisers and Santa Claus braved the chilly winter weather to tow their Inshore Lifeboat RIB (Gosport ILB) through Lee-on-Solent and Gosport, talking to members of the public, who kindly popped their spare change in the pot to help continue the lifesaving service.

The Mayor of Gosport Councillor Richard Dickson officially opened the event at 11am and walked the first mile with the team through Lee on Solent.

And the crew from Gosport Fire Station – which works closely with the GAFIRS – joined the team for the first hour.

Fundraising secretary Joyce Thomas said: "Father Christmas came along with us and the children we passed absolutely loved it. They were running up to us, asking to put money in the collection buckets. We stopped off at lots of places along the way and everywhere we went we received a warm welcome.

It was the first time we've ever done anything like this and we were not quite sure what to expect but it was great."

The route, which took four hours to cover, began at HM Solent Coastguard and went through many streets finishing back at the GAFIRS Lifeboat Station at Stokes Bay. They stopped in to say hello at several of the local pubs and to also say thank you to local supporters.

GAFIRS would like to thank the hard work and support of the Stoke Road Snooker Club (Gosport) who raised £2233.69 over the last year with game nights against other local teams.

GAFIRS Lifeboat crews were invited to the snooker hall for the cheque presentation by Mr Dave Norman, owner of the club, who then thanked everyone from the snooker club who contributed to an excellent charity. Next year the club are raising funds for the Gosport Submariners Association.

Lifesavers from Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) were honoured by the Royal Life Saving Society (UK) at London's Guildhall on Saturday, 30th June 2012.

Ten members of GAFIRS members received a wide range of honours recognising service to lifesaving spanning many years.

Andy Squirrell received the National Honours Committee award of Service Cross and Certificate of Recognition.

Steve Hobbs was made an Honorary Life Member for over 35 years of service.

Colin Davey received a Certificate of Thanks, John Martyn received a Service Cross, Stuart Martyn received a 2nd Bar for his Service Cross, Kevin Newman received a Certificate of Thanks and Certificate of Merit, Steven Ray received a Service Medal, Ian Sweet received a Bar for his Service Medal, Joyce Thomas received a Service Medal and Certificate of Recognition, Keith Thomas received a Service Medal and Certificates of Recognition.

Joyce and Keith Thomas were also awarded The Ken White Trophy for 2011 which is awarded for work on behalf of the RLSS at National, Regional or Branch level in recognition of outstanding commitment and enthusiasm for fundraising. Speaking after the ceremony, Joyce and Keith said the day had been very enjoyable and they were surprised and delighted to have been awarded the prestigious Ken White Trophy for their work for GAFIRS.

The awards ceremony was led by Stuart Bailey, RLSS UK President and the awards were presented by The Rt Hon the Lord Norrie.

25 operational volunteers of the Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS) were presented with the Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal on Wednesday 8th August at the Civic Offices, Fareham.

The presentations were made by the Presidents of GAFIRS, the Mayors of Gosport & Fareham, along with the GAFIRS Patron Dee Caffari MBE.

Amongst the recipients were, Lifeboat coxswains, Lifeboat crew and operational responding members.

Two Lifeboat coxswains, Mike Allen & Chris Rudd have both been involved with GAFIRS for 35 years, Mike Allen joined GAFIRS 2 months before the Queens Silver Jubilee Fleet Review in 1977 and has been crewing the Independent Lifeboats operated by GAFIRS for 33 years.

All the medal recipients are unpaid volunteers who give up their time freely and willingly to assist those in danger or in difficulty both on and around the Solent waters.

Donations to GAFIRS come from many quarters and are all graciously received. Every now and again comes a special donation, from a rather special source, as Ian Conchie, skipper of the "Qingdao" writes:-

"Racing round the world as the skipper of 'Qingdao' in the Clipper Round the World Race has taught both myself and the crew many lessons in terms of sailing and seamanship and re-enforced the importance of safety all the time on the water. For most of the race we didn't have the benefit of the support of professional rescue services like those provided by GAFIRS. We found ourselves in the unfortunate position of twice having injured crew onboard and having to divert from the race to medivac the patients, how we would have loved a service like GAFIRS at the time!

So when we decided to raffle and auction off some items at the end of the race GAFIRS were a obvious choice to allow us as a crew to give something back to the Gosport area where we completed all our training and race preparation."

As a result of the raffle and auction, £425 was donated to GAFIRS and will be used to fund new portable emergency radio equipment for lifeguards and lifeboat crews.

The son of one of our crew members is cycling through Holland from the 9th to the 13th of July to raise money for GAFIRS. Robert Fry is just 14 and is one of the youngest people taking part in the annual event.

He'll be covering between 245 and 350 miles in just 5 days depending on the pain level & peer pressure. He's doing this with his school cycling club as part of the Hayling to Holland ride.

Visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/robertfry2 to make a donation.

Click here for more information on the ride.

GAFIRS held its 5th annual Lifeboat and Blue Light Services Day on Sunday, 24th June 2012 and would like to say a big thank you to all our colleagues in the emergency services who supported us and to the people of Gosport and Fareham who came to see us.

We had a record number of emergency vehicles on display this year, including three ambulance and First Responder vehicles, two fire engines, a police car and personnel carrier, a Maritime and Coastguard Agency shore patrol vehicle and two RN Bomb Disposal Team vehicles together with a Wheelbarrow remote controlled bomb disposal machine. The GAFIRS lifeboats, canoes, Flood and Ice Rescue Trailer, Land Rover and tractor were also on display.

We needed all that emergency and rescue equipment and the rescue service personnel on hand because we had to be ready for the invasion of our other guests - the Storm Troopers of 501 Legion!

As usual the event was free, but the public generously donated £318.50 in support of our service. Thank you again to South Central Ambulance Service, Fareham First Responders, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, Hampshire Constabulary, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Royal Navy and 501 Legion for their help and to the people of Gosport and Fareham for their support.

GAFIRS looks forward to seeing you all next year!

Photographs from the event are available in the Gallery section of this site.

During the Weekend, our Chairman Peter Brown and lead Fundraiser Joyce Thomas, left their normal GAFIRS uniform behind and donned their best 'bib and tucker' when they attended the Hampshire (The County Magazine) awards ceremony for 2012 at the Royal Marines Museum at Southsea.

13 different awards were up for grabs and GAFIRS were amongst many prestigious organisation and individuals that had been shortlisted.

In a ceremony covering all aspects of Hampshire Life, GAFIRS was delighted to come 1st in the category 'Emergency Services Hero's for 2012', and walked away with an inscribed Shield and Silver Framed Certificate. All details of the award will be published in the May edition of Hampshire, The County Magazine, which is due for release on May 16th.

Last Saturday, GAFIRS held the dedication ceremony and formal launch of the Jim & Mollie Newton, our new rescue craft that will officially be known as Gosport Lifeboat.

Over 120 VIP's, guests and visitors from around the globe packed the promenade to hear the dedication service jointly conducted by Alverstoke Reverends Ted Goodyer and Phil Hiscock, and to see the naming ceremony conducted by our GAFIRS patron, Yachtswoman Dee Caffari.

With music provided by Gosport Brass Band under the direction of Royal Marine Colour Sergeant Simon Nicholls to the delight of a large public audience who braved the showers, the event was described as a fantastic success by Peter Brown, our GAFIRS chairman.

"Today marks a milestone for GAFIRS in the launch of our latest lifeboat that was only made possible after a large donation from the Newton family and followed by significant local donations over the last 8 years. GAFIRS have built the new lifeboat completely from a bare hull and fitted it out to the highest specification. Everyone is delighted with the new lifeboat which, with its increased sea-keeping qualities, speed and size, will afford much better protection to our crews whenever they launch on a rescue mission."

After the ceremony GAFIRS lifeboats exercised with the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter which clearly demonstrated the excellent capabilities of the new boat.

GAFIRS has taken delivery of their new drysuits just in time for the official launch of the new front-line rescue boat next month.

Prior to the new suits, each crewmember had funded and supplied their own protective equipment resulting in a range of styles and differing levels of protection.

The new, high quality, suits, manufactured by Northern Diver, are individually made-to-measure and carry GAFIRS branding to help identify the crew.

Costing nearly £400 each, providing the suits for all of the 24 volunteer crew members has come at a great expense but one which is easily justified given the harsh conditions under which GAFIRS operate.

After an appeal last year, the purchase was helped by the NatWest Community Fund and individual donations from the public. Without this generous support it would not have been possible to purchase this much-needed equipment.

GAFIRS still need to buy more protective equipment for shore crew and trainees, and the crew's lifejackets and helmets are nearing the end of their serviceable lives so the fundraising for these items will continue indefinitely ensuring our volunteers remain as safe as possible when helping those in distress.

GAFIRS crewman Paul Goulder raised £300 to provide more vital equipment for the rescue service by completing the Great South Run last year.

The generous donation was used to purchase two sets of "Mudders" which are a cleverly designed overshoe enabling crew to walk on top of the deep mud that fills much of the coastline around Gosport and Fareham at low tide.

Inspired by the Great Blue Heron, the Mudders mimic how nature overcomes the difficulties of travelling across mud. Expanding with each step, the user's weight is spread over a large area to prevent sinking. Then, as the user lifts their foot, the Mudder contracts, minimising the suction that would otherwise hinder progress.

Many of GAFIRS' taskings involve reaching casualties who are immobilised in mud and the new footwear will greatly improve efficiency and safety in such cases.

Paul has completed the 10 mile run every year since 1990, and since joining GAFIRS, 6 years ago, has done so to raise funds for the independent lifeboat station. Last year he completed the event in a time of 1 hour, 29 minutes and came 5252 out of 23000. Paul has already entered into the Great South Run for this year on 28th October 2012.