More than 146,000 lives saved and counting: RNLI marks 200th anniversary

On a Sunday morning in the seaside town of Whitby, North Yorkshire, a group of volunteers gather at the lifeboat station. The team are from a range of backgrounds, ages and walks of life, but they all share one common aim. In their spare time, they help to save lives.

In its 200-year history, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has relied on the spirit of people like this group and donations from the public to grow into one of Britain’s best-known charities.

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824, the RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved 146,277 over two centuries, while maintaining close connections with the communities they serve.

The group in Whitby, who were taking part in a training exercise, all have similar stories about those community connections that inspired them.

As the team heads out onto the North Sea on board the £2.5m Shannon Class vessel, Max Burnett, 21, is the youngest volunteer on board.

Living and growing up in Whitby, he says he’s wanted to join the lifeboats since he was a child.

“I was always looking at them, knowing that they’re giving up their time to do something good,” he says, “I thought why not give it a try and be a part of that.”

Mr Burnett admits things can be hectic alongside his day job.

“On Friday for example, I got into the house at half past five. My tea was warm, but I got a call out, so I had to leave my tea there and head straight to the station. I got back at seven o’clock. It was a long day, but at the same time, very rewarding.”

The RNLI’s Shannon Class lifeboat is the first modern all-weather lifeboat propelled by water jets instead of propellers, and on board, the top-of-the-range technology provides a reminder of how much progress has been made over two centuries.

In the past, crews wore cork life jackets while horse-powered boat launches took place until 1936.

The type of rescue lifeboats are now regularly involved in has also changed over two centuries.

The RNLI started following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks involving people involved in industry.

Now the teams respond to calls often related to people using British waters for leisure rather than trade.

In 2022, RNLI lifeboats were launched 9,312 times and its crews saved 389 lives, with the second most common casualty type related to powered boats.

Jonathan Marr, another one of the volunteers in Whitby joined the RNLI 26 years ago, inspired by his grandfather who also volunteered, winning a service award for his role in a call-out in 1929.

Marr can recall one of his most recent rescues, helping a pair of rowers whose boat capsized last December.

“It was quite a cold day and it was really windy,” Mr Marr remembers. “Luckily they’d done their procedure, they were on the hull of the boat, and they were in bright colours.”

“To see somebody’s face when you see them and you get to them, that’s priceless, you can’t put it into words,” he adds.

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Emma Cassie was one of the rowers saved that day, along with a younger colleague called Tom.

She is not just grateful to be alive, but grateful to join the RNLI’s army of volunteers, deciding to become a water safety advisor for the charity.

“For myself and Tom now the RNLI is a big part of our lives, and the reason that we are here is because of them,” she said.

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