Over the last four years, Fylde coast Freemason Dave Smith has settled in extremely well to his volunteering role with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution at Fleetwood Lifeboat Station. Dave is a Fleetwood RNLI launch authority, wearing a pager around his waist and being on standby for receiving those emergency calls from HM Coastguard requesting him to ‘set the pagers off’ to alert the local volunteer crew members. Dave is one of five volunteer launch authorities based at RNLI Fleetwood.
Dave’s role is to give permission for the lifeboat to depart from the station, after ensuring that the vessels are correctly manned and the weather conditions are suitable for a safe launch and operation. Back in 2023, the West Lancashire Masonic Clay Pigeon Shooting Society (WLMCPSS), of which Dave is a keen member, kindly donated £910 for a new digital weather station for the Fleetwood RNLI which was presented to the crew by Dave and fellow WLMCPSS member John Topping. Dave has been very impressed with this equipment and it supports him every time he has to give authority for the lifeboat launch.
Dave Smith is also a member of Country Pursuits Lodge of West Lancashire No 6615, who at their recent meeting at Fleetwood Masonic Hall celebrated the 50 years in Freemasonry anniversary of lodge member John Wright. John was insistent that the proceeds of the raffle were to be donated to Fleetwood RNLI for them to purchase necessary equipment. Dave knew that the crew training room needed a sound bar and woofer to enhance the existing audio-visual facilities. This generous donation of £250 was quickly used to purchase the hi-tec devices which were presented by Dave on a crew night and are now in full use.
In 2025 Dave Smith contributed 1,570 community engagement hours to the RNLI which is a significant commitment, as every night-time launch requires the physical presence of a launch authority. Dave explained to John Topping, visiting officer for the North Fylde Group and Provincial Grand Scribe Nehemiah, the process of events that happens when the coastguard rings him.
The coastguard explains the emergency and Dave quickly determines what boats are available and whether the emergency requires one boat or two. At this point, Dave will ‘set the pagers off’ knowing that he needs three crew members for a smaller inshore lifeboat or five crew members for the larger all-weather boat. John found this information fascinating, especially Dave’s 1,570 community engagement hours to the RNLI.
John frequently details impressive data such as this in any responses he makes at group dinners or chapter installations by referring to a community engagement footprint left by such a generous number of community engagement hours. There is no doubt that the Fleetwood RNLI station can feel the impact of these community engagement hours through the consistent and committed work of Dave Smith.
