Man who began volunteering in Formby has been awarded the British Citizen Award

Steve Mee was awarded the British Citizen Award for volunteering at the Palace of Westminster by Lime Marketings Client Operations Director, Anu Chadha and BCA Patron, Bradley Walsh.

Steve began volunteering in Formby in 1979 as a coastguard auxiliary watch keeper in the radio operations room, which is where he was taken under the wings of full time coastguards. Steve has dedicated almost 38 years to HM Coastguard has he been recognized with a national honour.

After Steve worked in the coastguard operations room for over 17 years; Steve transferred to the Coastguard Rescue Team in 1996. Which is where he moved up the ranks and was promoted to his current role as station officer in 2006.

Over the years, Steve has been involved in innumerable rescue incidents, both major and minor, including the Lockerbie disaster in 1988. Even though Steve has been working full time as an IT network engineer at Jaguar Land Rover. Steve and the rest of the team are on call 24 hours a day throughout the year - responding to any call outs for rescues or searches.

Steve said: “I am extremely passionate about volunteering for HM Coastguard, and I have no plans to stop any time soon.

“As long as I have my mental agility, and physical ability, I will keep volunteering, and I would be delighted to get to 50 years’ service.

“Being on call 24/7 can be a bit of a pain at times, and I quite often have to stop right in the middle of decorating or gardening to dash off when the pager goes off to get to the rescue station, but I get so much satisfaction from helping others, and the fact that in over 37 years I can say no job has ever been the same.

“I am not one to put myself in the limelight, and just quietly get on with things, however it’s really nice that the whole team have nominated me and I am very honoured to be receiving this award.

“I would also like to say a huge thank you to my wife and children, who are fantastic and very understanding when I’m called out to attend incidents at all times of the day and night.”

Nominations are being accepted for the July 2017 presentations.

To request a nomination form please email nominations@britishcitizenawards.co.uk or submit a form online at http://britishcitizenawards.co.uk/nominate-for-a-bca/

Please submit completed nominations forms before the April,7 2017.