Jersey lifeboat crew to take centre stage in BBC rescue series

Jersey’s RNLI volunteers are set to appear on national television next week as the St Helier lifeboat crew makes its debut on the BBC’s Saving Lives at Sea.

The programme will feature helmet-camera footage from a dramatic rescue involving two teenage girls and their unconscious father, who were aboard a French yacht around 16 miles west of Jersey’s south coast.

The episode will air on Tuesday, 15 September, at 8pm.

It will be the first time the St Helier lifeboat has featured in the popular series. RNLI Jersey previously appeared on the programme seven years ago, when two rescues carried out by the St Catherine’s lifeboat station were shown.

The charity says viewers can expect to see Jersey more than once during the current series, with the production team indicating that the island will feature in several episodes.

Nigel Sweeny MBE, RNLI Jersey’s St Helier Lifeboat Operations Manager, said footage captured by cameras worn by crew members and mounted on the lifeboat was originally intended to support training and post-rescue reviews.

He said the material sometimes provided an opportunity to give viewers an insight into the work of the volunteers.

“It's always exciting to see our volunteer crew recognised for their work and we are all looking forward to this particular episode,” he said.

The island’s Lieutenant Governor, Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Kyd KBE, also welcomed the programme’s focus on Jersey’s lifeboat volunteers.

He said the crews spent “countless hours” training for emergencies and that the helmet-camera footage would provide viewers with a unique perspective on how that preparation is put into practice.

Sir Jeremy added that the popularity of Saving Lives at Sea came from showing volunteers risking their own lives to help others in difficult and sometimes extraordinary circumstances.

He said he was “really looking forward” to seeing Jersey featured in the upcoming episode.