Newhaven Memorial
Last year, on 21st November, a fishing boat called the Joanna C sunk off the coast of Newhaven. On board was a local fisherman, Robert Morley, and his crew mate, Adam Harper, from Brixham. In 2015 another fisherman, Darren Brown, was lost off Our Sarah Jane.
Newhaven is one of the few fishing ports that has never had a memorial for lost fisherman. Robert’s family have been campaigning, with the support of Maria Caulfield and Steve Bell, to rectify this and Newhaven Council have agreed to let them place a memorial down at Newhaven Harbour.
They need to raise in the region of £20,000 and are asking those in the community to help them. The bereaved family will never get their men back, but they are hoping the memorial will give them some comfort and a place to go, and that it will honour their men so they are rightfully remembered in the way they should be. It will stand as a tribute to all fishermen and women.
We at Rathfinny feel honoured to help them achieve their goal and to this end we are donating 50p for every fish dish served in our Harvest Restaurant during October and guests are welcome to match this contribution. It’s a community cause close to our heart, especially as Cameron Roucher, our Vineyard Manager, is a Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer with the Newhaven Coastguard Rescue Team therefore is sadly a witness to these occasional disasters. The RNLI also played an essential part in the search and rescue mission.
If anyone would like to donate they can do so via this Go Fund Me link. Robert’s father, Keith, says any contribution however small would be much appreciated.
