90. Lifeboat Lady: Betty Broocks

The lady with RNLI blood in her veins – Rye fundraiser Betty Broocks on why she devoted 55 years to the charity  

15 November marks the anniversary of the 1928 Rye Harbour lifeboat tragedy, in which the 17-strong crew of the Mary Stanford lifeboat drowned. A memorial service in honour of the crew takes place every year – the church packed with people, with more spilling outside.  

200 Voices hears from Betty Broocks, 91, who lost family members in the tragedy. She was born just 3 years later, and the legacy of that loss drove Betty to become not simply a fundraiser, but now officially the RNLI’s President of all the Fundraisers. Betty is also the founder of the Lifeboat Ladies – a group of crew’s wives dedicated to saving lives at sea.  

200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI

Interview by Adventurous Audio

Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls

The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200