Help RNLI (and other heroic lifeboat crews)
RNLI runs 238 lifeboat stations and 441 lifeboats (including relief and hovercrafts). In 2023, lifeguards covered 238 beaches, and saved 86 lives. It receives no government funding, so relies on volunteers and donations.
Lifeboat crews often witness upsetting scenes, and need mental health support.
RNLI tips for sea safety
- Visit beaches monitored by RNLI, as experts can warn of dangers.
- Always check tide times, before travel.
- Carry phones in waterproof pouches to call 999 (112 in Irish waters).
- Children can get free swim lessons. Also read about safe wild swimming.
- Read RNLI advice on choosing lifejackets.
- If in trouble – tilt your head back, submerge ears, use hands to stay afloat. Call for help, or swim to safety.
A few notable lifeboat rescues
Henry Blogg (from Cromer in Norfolk – there is even a museum dedicated to him) saved 873 lives, a humble volunteer who never got over the tragedy of losing two young children.
One of those he saved was a large dog from the sinking ship Monte Nevoso in 1932 – who he adopted and they became best friends.
Grace Darling (who has a museum dedicated to her in Bamburgh, Northumberland) used a rowing boat to (with her father) rescue five survivors whose vessels had wrecked in strong winds on the Farne Islands, while sailing from Hull to Dundee.
Half the ship sank in 15 minutes with many people (including children) dying. Grace saw the wreck from the lighthouse, and spotted survivors on the rocks. After rescuing them, she helped her mother look after them, while her father and three other men rowed back to rescue more people.
Sadly, Grace died just four years later of TB (receiving the best medical care at Alnwick Castle, on instructions of the Duchess of Northumberland).
Tragic incidents in South West England
The seas near Mousehole can be treacherous. In 1981, all 8 volunteer lifeboat crew died (along with 8 others) while trying to save crew on a coaster vessel that had run aground, after seawater got into the fuel tank.
Today the village has a local train named after the boat’s crew. Within one day, local volunteers had formed a new lifeboat crew.
In 1916, an open row lifeboat capsized in Salcombe (Devon) and 13 of the 15 crew lost their lives. Immediately a new crew formed, which continues to this day.
More organisations dedicated to sea safety
- HM Coastguard is the sea emergency service (call 999).
- NILA represents around 30 independent lifeboats.
- Royal Yachting Association has safety info for sustainable sailors.
- National Coastwatch helps swimmers and boaters.
- Surf Life Saving GB trains lifeguards, if you see yourself as David Hasselhoff or Pamela Anderson!
- Home and Dry keeps fishing crews safe.
How RNLI criticism by Reform UK backfired
RNLI is not a political organisation. Yet when Border Force is not available, it’s often called out by the Coastguard to rescue refugees in the English Channel, and sometimes has saved people from drowning, including children. It says it does ‘not pick who it saves’, volunteer jobs are simply to save lives.
Some Reform UK politicians have criticised RNLI (criticised the RNLI – our national heroes!) for rescuing migrants, claiming the charity was acting as a ‘taxi service’ for illegal boat migrants in the channel. The RNLI replied that crossings are do to with politics, and their volunteers are not going to leave someone to drown, just to please certain groups in society.
The public criticism massively backfired, triggering a massive wave of public support. And saw donations surge by up to 3000%. It also ended up with a crowdfunding campaign to buy a new emergency rescue hovercraft, with plans to name it The Flying Farage!
The organiser writes that all donations are ringfenced, so it’s up to RNLI what to do with the money raised. But ‘there’s a good chance that donations will help the very people that Farage and others love screaming at in the channel’.
