PUPILS at a London school have given their backing to the Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign after studying the implications of the RNLI’s planned changes to the lifeboat service in Ceredigion in their maths and English lessons.

Following the RNLI’s announcement in June last year that it plans to strip Ceredigion of its only all-weather lifeboat and replace it with a smaller, inshore lifeboat that is unable to launch when conditions exceed force 6-7, public opposition to the RNLI’s plan has been growing.

More than 25,000 people have signed a petition opposing the RNLI’s plan to downgrade New Quay’s lifeboat, and the campaign has gained the support of a number of prominent politicians and public figures.

Now, pupils at an inner-city London school have joined the fight to save the only all-weather lifeboat in Ceredigion.

Year 8 pupils at Harris Academy St John’s Wood have spent the summer term studying the facts and figures of future lifeboat coverage in Cardigan Bay. The project was initiated by maths teacher Alexandra Lay, who was looking for meaningful and engaging ways into the curriculum.

Ms Lay, who studied at Aberystwyth University and is a keen kayaker, said: “I first saw the Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign as an opportunity to teach loci to my year 8s with a real purpose and real-life application.

“As the project developed, my most able mathematicians were able to apply their understanding of bearings, loci and speed, as well as distance and time in the same context.

“Through engaging with the Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign and studying all of the related facts and figures, my pupils began to feel a real sense of empathy for the New Quay community and wanted to do what they could to help save the New Quay all-weather lifeboat.”

As part of this maths project, Aadam (13) calculated that: “If in 2020 a fishing boat was in distress on a bearing of 320º from New Quay and 30km from the coast, an all-weather lifeboat from Fishguard would take one hour three minutes to arrive.

“If someone was in the sea for that long it would take 30 minutes for their muscles to shut off and they would drown.’

The project was then taken up by the English department who planned a series of lessons around the history of the RNLI and the role of the all-weather lifeboat at New Quay.

Pupils debated the subject in their lessons and have written letters to RNLI chief executive Paul Boissier.

In her letter, 13-year old Tisha wrote: “An inshore lifeboat can’t be used in stormy seas. Who will save people when the sea is at its most dangerous? If you get rid of your all-weather lifeboat at New Quay then you’ll be undoing all the work that you’ve done so far.”

Richard Taylor, chairman of Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign said, “Alexandra’s work with her students is wonderful and very moving, with bright young minds making the calculations. It is a powerful part of an impressive momentum that is building to reverse the RNLI’s decision.

“I’d like to thank Alexandra, her colleagues and our young team of analysts, cartographers and persuasive writers for helping to make a strong case.”

Other schools have shown an interest in the work done by Harris Academy and the Ceredigion Lifeboat Campaign plans to involve more schools across the country during the new school year.

To find out more about the campaign to save Ceredigion’s only all-weather lifeboat, visit www.ceredigionlifeboatcampaign.org.uk