'Extraordinary' RNLI supporters remembered in Weymouth boat naming
Jack and Phyl Cleare donated five lifeboats in their lifetime.
Weymouth Lifeboat Station is welcoming in it's newest vessel today with a naming ceremony on the Harbour.
Weymouth RNLI’s new Atlantic class lifeboat will be officially named B-917 Jack and Phyl Cleare in memory of two lifelong supporters of the charity. This is the fifth lifeboat they donated to the charity.
The Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat (ILB) arrived in the town last April to a warm welcome from crowds and supporters, replacing the ageing relief Atlantic 75.
The new Atlantic 85 Jack and Phyl Cleare is a larger, more modern and capable boat and features an additional 4th crew seat as well as an integrated communications system, radar and direction-finding equipment to enhance its search and rescue capability, along with advanced navigation systems.
Powered by powerful twin 115hp four-stroke engines which give it a top speed of 35 knots, the lifeboat is also faster and more economical than its predecessor and is also friendlier to the environment.
Phyl and Jack were extraordinary benefactors. They funded two D class lifeboats for Swanage, an Atlantic 75 lifeboat for Weymouth, plus an additional relief D class lifeboat. Phyl also helped fund the building of the RNLI collect in Poole. The new Swanage D class, named Phyl & Jack was their fifth lifeboat.
Phyl Cleare started her working life in banking but then decided to become an actress. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and became a Licentiate of LAMDA. She entertained troops in Europe with ENSA during WWII and went on to work at what is now the Kenton Theatre in Henley. When she and her husband, Jack, moved to Bournemouth she became manager of the Boscombe Hippodrome, now the 02 Academy.
Phyl and Jack began supporting the RNLI during the 1980s. They were to become dedicated and loyal supporters and celebrated their Golden wedding anniversary by funding a lifeboat for Weymouth. They went on to concentrate their funding efforts towards the Weymouth and Swanage lifeboat stations and took much pride in visiting them to give their lifeboats a thorough clean and polish.
When Jack passed away in 2000, crews from both lifeboat stations attended his funeral. Phyl continued supporting the RNLI and, in honour of her late husband, named the Swanage inshore lifeboat Jack Cleare. In the years that followed, Phyl developed close relationships with the volunteers at the two stations and frequently called in to check up on the boats and their crews, as well as regularly attending AGMs and station open days.
In 2011 Phyl was presented with the RNLI Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her commitment and support of the charity. More can be read about Phyl in Sue Hennessy’s book Hidden Depths: Women of the RNLI.