Major appeal in memory of local hero to be lasting legacy for Skegness RNLI

Sandra Watson, wife of former Skegness RNLI coxwain Richard 'Watty' Watson, wants to raise £50,000 in memory of her husband's 'devotion and generosity of spirit'.

Already the fund on JustGiving has raised more than £5,437 for the RNLI in Skegness.

Launching the appeal, the RNLI said: "Many of you will know that we were shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and Coxswain Richard 'Watty' Watson in October last year.

"Now, his wife Sandra is aiming to provide a lasting legacy to his memory,.by raising funds in aid of the RNLI in Skegness.

"Richard's passion and dedication to his crew will live on through this amazing gesture."

His wife Sandra said: "On October 1 my husband Richard Watson (Watty) was killed in a road traffic accident. The comments in the letters, texts, emails, messages and cards that I received over the following weeks all told tales of a man that was loved by many and that who had in one way or another enriched people’s lives by helping or supporting them or just by being a friend.

"The comments often contained the following remarks: 'larger than life', 'lit the room up with his presence', 'always had time for me', 'would go out of his way to help', 'had a loud laugh', 'a wicked sense of humour and was great at fabulous off the cuff comments'.

"His RNLI service record shows that he 'rescued 246 lives from shipwreck'. Watty was a very humble man with regard to his long service with the RNLI despite his outgoing jovial persona in normal life.

"The Skegness Lifeboat Crew spend hours training to maintain the skills needed to be on call 24/7 365 days of the year. Watty spent several years as the Station Training Officer and as a lasting tribute to him, his family and friends would like to raise monies for Skegness Lifeboat Station in his memory.

"As a target we would like to raise up to £50,000 over the next two to three years. "e are working with the RNLI to identify something that the funds can go towards to have a lasting memory of Watty.

"We hope, eventually, to be able to organise fundraising events when we are able to return to some sort of normal life post covid but in the interim we have set ourselves a starting target of £10,000.

"Please help us by donating to this cause. All monies donated at the funeral have already been put towards this cause."

To support the appeal, visit the Justgiving page at /www.justgiving.com here.