The Fund was founded in 1866 when a group of Civil Servants met with the avowed determination to present a lifeboat to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). They formed a committee and issued an appeal to Government Offices. They asked for £300, got it before the year was out and purchased the lifeboat "Civil Service". The committee became known as the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund (later to be the Civil Service, Post Office and British Telecommunications Lifeboat Fund (CISPOTEL) and now the Communications and Public Service Lifeboat Fund or The Lifeboat Fund for short.
The Lifeboat Fund has now been closely linked with RNLI for over 140 years and it is by far the largest single contributor. Money raised for The Lifeboat Fund is used specifically to buy lifeboats for RNLI. Since 1866, the Fund has provided 51 boats which have saved over 4,700 lives. The 51st lifeboat is Charles Dibdin which recently went into service.
Title
The title of the Fund was changed in 1969 when the Post Office left the Civil Service, and again in 1983 when BT did likewise; the somewhat long title was contracted to the acronym CISPOTEL. In 2002 when the Post Office changed its name to Consignia, the Fund changed its title to the Communications and Public Service Lifeboat Fund with a working title The Lifeboat Fund. Consignia was renamed Royal Mail but no further change was required to the name of The Lifeboat Fund.
Royal Patronage
HRH the Duke of Kent become Patron in July 1997 as successor to Her Majesty the Queen.
Fundraising
The Fund launches an Annual Appeal each year in Government Departments. Serving and retired Civil Servants, Royal Mail pensioners and BT staff contribute to the Fund through the Payroll and Pension Payroll Giving Schemes. In 2009 the Fund collected £189,000 for the RNLI.
About the RNLI
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a registered charity which exists to save lives at sea and survives solely on voluntary contributions. It provides the 24-hour on-call service to cover search and rescue requirements out to 100 nautical miles from the coast of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and a seasonal beach lifeguard service on appropriate beaches in the south west of England. The RNLI relies on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income. There are 331 lifeboats in the active fleet and 4,800 volunteer crew members. There are 233 lifeboat stations and the lifeboats are launched more than 7,600 times a year and save over 8015 lives.