TWO new crew members at Weymouth RNLI lifeboat station have just completed a vital part of their crew training thanks to a national charity.

Ian Bickerstaff and Steff Drever took part in the Trainee Crew Course at the RNLI College in Poole, which was funded by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation earlier this month.

Training took place at the Sea Survival Centre at the charity’s college, which includes a 25m wave-generating survival tank, allowing trainees to experience first-hand the real-life scenarios they will encounter on the job.

The pair took part in a number of different exercises as part of the course, such as how to abandon ship with a four-metre jump into water, swimming and how to cope in a life-raft in simulated darkness.

They were also taught how to deal with fires aboard lifeboats, how to right a capsized inshore lifeboat and the importance of lifeboats.

Talking about the training, Mr Bickerstaff, who volunteers for the RNLI in Weymouth, said: “The course was really good, demanding, challenging but also good fun. Veering down onto Old Harry Rocks was one of the highlights as well as the capsize drill.”

Miss Drever added: “It was great to meet other volunteers from around the country on the course as well as undertaking the exercises which we were put through. I especially enjoyed the capsize drill.”

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation is a UK registered charity that invests in engineering-related education and the public engagement with research conducted by the industry.

The foundation has funded the Sea Survival element of the RNLI’s trainee crew courses since 2011 and will continue for another year, meaning they will have donated more than £1.5 million to the RNLI.

RNLI’s John Harvey, lifeboat operations manager for Weymouth lifeboat station, said: “The support given by the LR Foundations is hugely important to the RNLI. We are extremely grateful that it has chosen to fund sea survival training, which teaches vital core skills to our volunteer crew.”