A north-east man who leads a crew of 16 lifesavers has been invited to one of the country’s grandest occasions.
Kevin Finnie from Macduff, who is the station manager for the Banff Coastguard team, will be one of 8,000 people at the royal garden party at The Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Guests from all walks of life are given the chance to spend an afternoon with The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh during their time in the capital.
Mr Finnie’s invitation arrived at his home in Macduff over the weekend stating and he will now be attending the afternoon event on July 4 with his wife.
He said: “It was quite a surprise and it is an honour to represent the Coastguard.
“We are a busy team and it is really a reward for the whole team.
“I spoke to them about it at the weekend and they are all delighted.
“Another one of the team will be there too because his wife has been invited because of her work as a teacher.
“We’re hoping for a glorious day.”
Mr Finnie said their efforts to help keep people safe along the Moray Firth coastline means they have plenty of support from residents living in the north-east.
One of the crew’s most recent high profile tasks was their involvement in the extensive search operation for missing kayaker Dominic Jackson off the north-east coast of Scotland last year.
The water sports enthusiast headed out to sea from Portsoy, but the search efforts ended in tragedy when the 35-year-old’s body was found Lybster in the Highlands.
Earlier this month, Mr Finnie helped with the rescue of Inverurie businessman William Bird who plunged backwards off a cliff.
The 44-year-old was left with concussion and cuts and bruises after tumbling at Findochty on May 12.
Mr Finnie said: “We are well supported up here and we have a big following.
“Every time we attend galas our stand is quite popular.
“We have 16 people in our team – the largest number for a long time.
“We are called out to different situations including cliff and water rescues.
“There’s always a variety.”
