Cambridge IELTS 19 Academic Listening Test 2 (Questions 11-16)

I never really planned to be a lifeboat volunteer when I came to live in Northsea. I’d been working in London as a website designer, but although that was interesting, I didn’t like city life. I’d been really keen on boats as a teenager, and I thought if I went to live by the sea, I might be able to pursue that interest a bit more in my free time. Then I found that the Lifeboat Institution was looking for volunteers, so I decided to apply.

The Lifeboat Institution building here in Northsea’s hard to miss; it’s one of the largest in the country. It was built 15 years ago with funds provided by a generous member of the public, who’d lived here all her life. As the Lifeboat Institution is a charity that relies on that kind of donation, rather than funding provided by the government, that kind of help is much needed.

When I applied, I had to have a health assessment. The doctors were particularly interested in my vision. I used to be short-sighted, so I’d had to wear glasses, but I’d had laser eye surgery two years earlier so that was OK. They gave me tests for colour blindness and they thought I might have a problem there, but it turned out I was OK.

When the coastguard gets an alert, all the volunteers are contacted and rush to the lifeboat station. Our target’s to get there in five minutes, then we try to get the boat off the dock and out to sea in another six to eight minutes. Our team’s proud that we usually achieve that – the average time across the country’s eight and a half minutes.

I’ve recently qualified as what’s called a ’helmsman’, which means I have the ultimate responsibility for the lifeboat. I have to check that the equipment we use is in working order – the crew have special life jackets that can support up to four people in the water. And it’s ultimately my decision whether it’s safe to launch the boat. But it’s very rare not to launch it, even in the worst weather.

As well as going out on the lifeboat, my work involves other things too. A lot of people underestimate how windy conditions can change at sea, so I speak to youth groups and sailing clubs in the area about the sorts of problems that sailors and swimmers can have if the weather suddenly gets bad. We also have a lot of volunteers who organise activities to raise money for us, and we couldn’t manage without them.