7th July 2022. Guitarist Richard Durrant has become a patron of the Shoreham National Coastwatch Institution lookout station, having supported the volunteers there through fundraising at his Ropetackle concerts over many years.

Richard said his relationship with the National Coastwatch had become closer over the past year, since he and his family opened The Pollinator Café on Shoreham Beach, just a stone's throw from the station, in July 2021. Richard said he had always had a collection tin hanging at the café for NCI donations and one of the watchkeepers was the first customer there.

As a regular sailor and fisherman, Richard knows only too well the value of having the volunteers watch and always waves to them as he heads out to sea. He said: "It is a great comfort having them here, an essential part of the harbour entrance. We've lived yards away from Shoreham NCI lookout post since it was built and we've brought our kids up right here by the estuary. Our harbour entrance is usually pretty busy with cargo and fishing vessels, pleasure craft, dredgers – even the dreaded jet skies (as a swimmer and fisherman not my favourite things). But it is always reassuring to know that the NCI volunteers are watching over us all, ready to report to the Coastguard with accurate information that can, and does, save lives. It's hard to imagine life here without them. They keep us safe for sure."

David Crozier, NCI chief executive, presented Richard with a certificate, watched by Trustee Stephen Hand, station manager Colin Clay and watchkeepers. Stephen said the money Richard has raised at his concerts at the  Roprtackle  Centre had made a huge difference and as patron, he would continue to raise money, as well as awareness of the work done by Coastwatch to help save lives at sea.