Newquay RNLI’s new B-class inshore lifeboat will be officially named Uncle Johnny on Sunday.

The ceremony will take at Newquay RNLI lifeboat station at South Quay, Newquay Harbour at 3pm. 

The new lifeboat arrived in Newquay in February and has been funded thanks to a generous donation by Wilson and Sylvia Evans who live on the east coast of Ireland, in the Greystones area, 30kms south of Dublin. This is the same area that Wilson lived on his family farm, Charlesland, with his two brothers.

Charlesland had been passed down from Wilson’s great Uncle Johnny, through two generations.

Wilson’s interest in lifeboats started when he was about 10 years of age when his mother brought him to a fundraising/ promotion exercise on the local lifeboat, over a bank holiday weekend. He has now been a governor for a number of years.

RNLI lifeboat operations manager Gareth Horner said: “Our volunteer crew has enthusiastically embraced the new Atlantic 85 lifeboat which has already been launched on service five times since her arrival.

“The naming ceremony will be a very special day in our station’s history and will officially mark the next chapter of lifesaving in the town.”

The event is by invitation only, but members of the public are able to watch from a distance. Invited guests will enjoy refreshments with crew following the ceremony.