Article by Gianna Saccomani and Grace Palmieri

While mothers around the country look forward to a relaxing day being spoiled with maybe breakfast in bed or lunch cooked by someone else, three Teddington mums may be out on the Thames saving lives.

Sam, Claire and Jan form part of the volunteer lifeboat crew (six of whom are women) who are on 24-hour call at Teddington RNLI station every day, whether Mother's Day, Father's Day or even Christmas Day.

This Sunday they will be ready to dash to the station, change into their dry suits and be part of the crew launching one of Teddington's two D-class lifeboats, all within minutes of the pager alerts from the Coastguard.

Sam, the station's only female helm (head of crew), said: "Like every Mum, I love Mother's Day and spending special time with my children. It's great to enjoy a day just for us. However, I also want to help my other 'family' - the RNLI and Teddington's community. I will enjoy this Sunday with my kids, and may not be needed. However, if my pager goes off, they understand that others may need me too."

Claire's son Harry, aged 11 added: "I'm proud of my mum for volunteering for the RNLI - they help people in trouble and teach children to be safe around the water."

Teddington's RNLI Lifeboat station is one of four on the Thames and has a total of around 45 volunteers, including fundraisers, education and water safety team members.

The year 2022 saw the team called out 106 times with four of the callouts resulting in lives being saved.

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Jan concluded :"We would also like to thank the other mothers who are part of our RNLI family – the partners of the other crew members on call on Sunday who might also be running out of the door answering their pagers."

For more information on Teddington's RNLI lifeboat station including opportunities to volunteer, visit the link HERE.