A Bright Future for MVS Fleetwood

The new MVS Fleetwood unit has launched with a well attended meeting this week at the Fleetwood Harbour Yacht Club.

The town is the new home to MVS Curlew, which has been transferred to the north from Plymouth and is now docked at Fleetwood Marina.

Curlew is in the care of the unit but will be made available for the use of members across the north of England.

Students from the local Nautical College and volunteers from the Fleetwood NCI station were among those who attended the inaugural meeting.

There was also a message of support from local MP Cat Smith who would have been there if she had not been voting at Westminster.

The man heading the unit is 58-year-old Tony Coleman, an ex-Windermere warden who lives close to Fleetwood in Cleveleys.

He said, “What’s good about this unit is that there are quite a few retired trawlermen in this town who have a wealth of maritime experience.

Sadly there is no large-scale fishing industry in Fleetwood any more to allow those skills to be passed on, but this is one way they can pass on their knowledge – and age is no barrier.”

A number of new volunteers signed up on the night and the future of the unit is already looking bright.