RNLI volunteer Chris Turns has been made Salcombe Citizen of the Year by Salcombe Town Council

Chris joined Salcombe lifeboat crew in 1993.

Having grown up with his father Stan being on the crew since 1981, it was a rite of passage.

He remembers: “Smee, the coxswain at the time came to me one day and said, “so when are you joining?” I replied “err, now?” and that was about it.

“I was told that I wouldn’t go to sea as crew within the first six months, but I still had to turn up and help out.

One day that winter, not long after signing up, my pager went off.

“As usual, I drove my father down to the lifeboat station.

“They were short of crew. Suddenly I was at sea, and that was the start of my time on the crew. “

Chris continued: ”One memory that sticks in my mind was in 1983 when I was 10.

“The lifeboat answered a call from a boat in Start Bay in a force 11 hurricane.

“My father was on the crew, aboard the old Watson class Baltic Exchange.

“I was with my mother in a shop in Kingsbridge when we heard on the radio news that the lifeboat had capsized.

“All sorts of thoughts went through my mind; we didn’t have mobile phones back then so had to wait for word on them.

“Luckily, no one was hurt. One person had been thrown overboard but he was back safely on board. I can only imagine how scared they all were.”

Over the years Chris has volunteered in most roles. On the ALB (all-weather lifeboat) he progressed from navigator to emergency coxswain.

Now he is training again ready to be emergency coxswain for the new ALB coming to Salcombe in 2027 (quite rightly she will be called The Baltic Exchange IV).

On the ILB (In-shore lifeboat) he is one of the helms.

Chris added: “I still get emotional watching different rescues from around the coast.

“When the pager goes off on the telly, we all look round to see how high Anna (my wife) jumps.I feel really proud to have been volunteering for the RNLI for 32 years now – it has been such a big part of my life for so long.

“Now, it’s lovely to see my kids enjoying being on the water, learning boat handling skills and hearing them say that they would both one day like to join the crew. “They’re also very good at spotting when people have not got their kill cords or lifejackets on.”

The town benefits from his public spiritedness in many ways: “Recently Salcombe Town Council awarded me ‘Citizen of the Year’ which is a great honour to receive.

”I volunteer for other organisations in Salcombe too (Rotary Club of Salcombe, Friends of Redfern Health Centre, and The Christmas lights to name but a few).

As with the RNLI, it’s a team effort with all these organisations.

We do this to give a boost to the local community.’