RNLI honours Scarborough man for 40 years of service to the charity
John Porter is now Visitor and Education officer
The RNLI has honoured a Scarborough man for 40 years of service to the charity.
74-year-old John Porter was originally part of the crew but retired and is now Visitor and Education officer.
He said: "Being a part of that team is an honour. It's a privilege to be part of the RNLI. You do it because you wished to be part of the team.
"I was 35 years on the lifeboat crew, finishing as head launcher here in Scarborough. I had to retire at 65 but whilst giving service, our team saved 175 lives.
"One of my best days was when my late wife and I had just purchased a new house, got the keys, we were going into it and my pagers went off. I just dumped everything on the floor, left her to it and we came down, we launched very quickly and we saved a fishing boat that was sinking with five crew on board.
"I've also received the Platinum Champions Award. This was something which was organised by the Royal Voluntary Service. They reached out to charities and other voluntary organistions asking for people who they'd considered had gone the extra mile and I was put forward for it."
There were more than 3,000 nominations from the UK for the Platinum Champions Award, in which only 492 people - including John - were chosen.