Members of a Buckie family are spending their Christmas together on call for the RNLI.
This will be the first Christmas Elaine Mair and her nephew Aidan have both spent as part of the Buckie RNLI team.
Elaine, who is from Buckie, has volunteered as a crew member at her local lifeboat station for more than seven years.
She was recently joined by her 18-year-old nephew, Aidan.
The teenager officially joined in August after a number of familiarisation trips out on the lifeboat, alongside crew members including his aunt.
Elaine said: “I’m so proud of Aidan for joining the volunteer crew at Buckie RNLI. It was his own ambition to join the lifeboat crew, and here we are, celebrating our first Christmas with us both on the crew.
“We haven’t been out on a shout together yet, but I’m looking forward to the day we do. It’s an honour to volunteer alongside him at Buckie RNLI.”
Elaine works as an ambulance technician and joined the Buckie crew in May 2016.
She added: “I’ve always had an affiliation with the coast, and loved giving back and helping people, and this was the perfect opportunity to do that. I’m very proud to volunteer for the RNLI and learn new skills along the way.”
Second family duo at Buckie RNLI
There is a second family duo at Buckie lifeboat.
Jeff Tuckerman, an RNLI volunteer crew member, is joined at the station by his father, James, who is a retired GP and is the volunteer chairman of the lifeboat management group.
He said: “Although we don’t volunteer side by side at the station, we still find ourselves sharing stories and talking about the RNLI over Sunday tea, and I imagine Christmas will be no different.”
Jeff joined the RNLI in Buckie back in February 2019 while he was serving in the Merchant Navy.
He added: “My father joined Buckie RNLI last year and had no previous experience with the lifeboat station.
“It’s something that the two of us share together, but I hope that our lifesaving work stays with our family for many years to come. I have two younger daughters and they love spending time at the lifeboat station.”
“It would be great if it became a family tradition within Buckie.”
Conversation