Shining the Spotlight on Heroes of Safety and Rescue
Trustees of Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society were delighted to host an awareness raising event recently with almost 50 guests and supporters of the Society joining them at The Hatch in New Brighton for an evening reception.In April 2025.
The Society makes awards for rescues – medals, parchments and certificates, and engages regularly with blue light services and voluntary rescue organisations across Merseyside and the Isle of Man. These incredible organisations perform the wonderful every day, however sometimes situations become a little more perilous and like brave members of the public the Society acknowledges, they step up and perform incredible acts of rescue.
Chair of the Society, Chris Riley, said: “For over 185 years, the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society has celebrated quiet acts of extraordinary courage; on rivers, in the air, and on our city streets as well as at sea. Our mission is to ensure that bravery in all its forms is recognised and remembered, and that the people who risk their lives to save others know their courage has not gone unnoticed. This event is also a chance to share our vision for the future, to grow our reach and raise awareness as we move towards our 200th anniversary in 2039.”
A recent recipient of an award from Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Michael Stannard, was in attendance at the event. Mr Stannard is a volunteer with New Brighton Lifeboat and received the recognition for his part in the rescue of two stranded swimmers off Fort Perch Rock
The event was also an opportunity to recognise the most recent recipients of the MV Derbyshire Award for Maritime Safety, Liverpool based Recall Recover, for its work developing and promoting trauma-informed approaches to investigating critical incidents at sea.
This annual award for maritime safety is named after the MV Derbyshire, a Liverpool ship that was tragically lost on 9 September 1980 during Typhoon Orchid, south of Japan. She is the largest British ship to have been lost at sea, with the deaths of 42 crew members, plus two wives. For decades, the MV Derbyshire families focused not just on justice for their loved ones, but on the wider issues of maritime standards and safety, seeking to ensure that no more innocent lives are lost at sea.
The Society will soon be opening its next nomination window for this special Award, so if you know of any individuals, businesses or organisations in the North West or Isle of Man who are doing amazing things for maritime safety get in touch via email: secretary@liverpoolshipwreckandhumanesoc.org
