A luxury yacht captain from Teignmouth, who was honoured last year for helping to rescue 100 people from a sinking vessel in the Mediterranean, has donated nearly £3000 to Teignmouth Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI).

Captain Richard Kirkby and his crew collected £2,789 from small change and donations that they had built up while sailing to numerous locations over the past three years including the Caribbean, Mediterranean and French Polynesian Islands.

Over 49 crew members had contributed during this time, with family and friends also donating.

Richard and his guests were treated to a tour of Teignmouth Lifeboat Station when they visited to hand over the money they had raised.

Volunteer visits officer Andy Teed was on hand to show Richard and his guests around the boathouse. The visit coincided with one of the lifeboat volunteer crew training evenings the guests were also able to witness the Atlantic 85 lifeboat Claude and Kath launch on exercise.

Richard thanked everyone for their hospitality, and said ‘it was great to see the dedication and team spirit of volunteers at the station’, he and his ‘crew have plans to continue with the fundraising efforts and hope to be able to donate again in the future’.

Volunteer fundraising chair Wendy Richards Wood presented Richard and his guests with a certificate of thanks recognising the generosity of the crew members. She thanked Richard for ‘the wonderful donation’ and expressed thanks on behalf of all volunteers at Teignmouth RNLI for the support shown.

Lifeboat operations manager Andy Lilburn was also present and commented how this ‘contribution will go towards helping volunteers to continue saving lives at sea’.

Richard has a family home in Teignmouth and was ‘delighted to be able to assist in raising funds and awareness for the work Teignmouth RNLI volunteers do for the community’.