A MEMBER of Weymouth’s volunteer lifeboat crew was presented with a medal for his 30 years of service.

A crowd of Weymouth RNLI lifeboat crew, families, supporters, friends and coastguards all turned out to see Graham Keates receive his medal at a ceremony held at the Sea Cadets Centre in Weymouth on July 22.

Mr Keates received his medal from Anne Morris, the wife of Barney Morris, the honorary secretary of Weymouth lifeboat station when Mr Keates joined the crew in 1982.

The ceremony started with the current lifeboat operations manager John Harvey welcoming everyone to the celebrations and recounting some salty sea stories from Mr Keates’ 32 years of volunteering with Weymouth lifeboat.

In addition to his medal, Mrs Morris also presented Mr Keates with a tankard engraved with a picture of his first lifeboat: the Tony Vandervell.

Mr Keates then gave a short speech in which he thanked his wife Jenny and children Sarah and Matthew for their support over the years and for all the good wishes he had received from everyone.

The presentation ended with the coxswain of Weymouth lifeboat, Andy Sargent, thanking Mr Keates for his past and continuing volunteering as a crew member and then presenting Mrs Morris and his wife with a bouquet of flowers each.

The rest of the evening was spent socialising and enjoying a buffet that had been provided.