Over the past 2 years, The Lizard Lifeboat Station has been going through a station rebuild and taken delivery of a new Tamar class all-weather lifeboat.

Saturday 5 May will see the culmination of the build project with the opening of the new station and dedication of the new lifeboat, Rose. Admiral The Lord Boyce, Chairman of the RNLI, will officially open the station while Lady Mary Holborow, the recently retired Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, will name the new lifeboat.

Lady Mary was Patron of The Lizard Tamar Lifeboat Appeal for the 3 years the appeal ran. The target of £300,000 to raise locally was achieved in just 2 years.

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The rest of the cost of the lifeboat was met by donations from trusts, philanthropists and legacies. There was also a donation of over £1.3m from an anonymous donor for the naming rights.

During the time the appeal ran, the lifeboat station was demolished and a new larger station now replaces it on the same site at Kilcobben Cove.

The Lizard Lifeboat Chairman Mike Lord said: "We are all looking forward to the boathouse opening and the dedication of our new lifeboat. It is something we have all been waiting for, for a long time.

"It's amazing to look back at what has been achieved here over the last 2 years - from the station being demolished in May 2010 and the lifeboat having to be moved around from moorings off Cadgwith and Polpeor or in extreme weather taken to Falmouth to the shelter of the harbour.

"And having our Coxswain Phil Burgess retire in October 2010 and new Coxswain Andrew Putt arrive, the Tyne class all-weather lifeboat David Robinson being replaced by the Tamar lifeboat in July 2011 and now our new station being completed.

"This building is phenomenal, so much bigger and better than the old, with fantastic facilities, which can be used by so many."

(CD)