Our Boats

The Communications and Public Service Lifeboat Fund (The Lifeboat Fund, for short) is commited to helping the Royal National Lifeboat Institution save lives at sea. The Fund is a public service charity, and proud to be the longest-serving supporter and one of the biggest single contributors to the RNLI.  The Fund is registered with the official regulators as a charity which fundraises throughout the UK. You can view our constitution here.

"We thought the weather we faced on our sports day was rough, but it's nothing compared to what the crews encounter!" 

Anjela Winson, communications officer for the Department for Education's Children's Services and Departmental Strategy Directorate, donned a dummy crew kit at the Department's Sport Day in July 2013 to raise donations for The Lifeboat Fund.  Anjela (pictured with her sister) was delighted at the result: "We are thrilled to have raised donations of £294.46 for such a cause.  Despite the bad conditions, people really dug deep for us and the lifeboat crew kit helped keep me dry!  This year's appeal seeks to buy sufficient crew kits to equip one volunteer at every single UK lifeboat station - to keep them as dry and safe as possible for their risky work at sea."

Hear the voices of our fundraisers here.

Charles Dibdin, The Lifeboat Fund's 51st lifeboat, went into service on 13 November 2009 at the New Brighton Lifeboat Station, Merseyside.  The lifeboat is an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable lifeboat and was named after Charles Dibdin, one of the founders of The Lifeboat Fund in 1866 who later went on to become RNLI Secretary.

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Terms and conditions

This website is maintained by The Lifeboat Fund secretariat and hosted by the Scottish Government.

Disclaimer

The Lifeboat Fund website and material relating to its information, products and services (or to third party information, products and services), is provided ‘as is’, without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

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The lifeboat fund exits to support the vital work of the rnli, saving lives and rescuing

People at sea, on our rivers and from floods. It does this by raising money from serving

And retired employees of the civil service, British Telecom and the royal mail. We are

Proud to be the rnli’s longest-serving, and one of its biggest, contributors.

The rnli is an independent charity and does not seek or receive funding from Uk Government. Its volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards rely on donations to continue

Their vital role of saving lives at sea.

Each year the lifeboat fund and the rnli agree upon the priorities to be supported through the fund’s appeal.

Submitting a request for information

If you would like to submit a request for information you can write to us or email us.

In common with many other organisations that are not covered by the Freedom of Information Act we will consider your request for information as if we were covered. This means that we will release the information if we hold it, unless one of the provisions under the Act applies and we determine that complying with the request would not be in keeping with the public interest.

We will respond to your request within 20 working days, either providing the information or explaining why we cannot provide it.

We organise numerous fundraising activities throughout the year and right across the UK. If you want to know more about how you can get involved, we can put you in touch with Lifeboat Fund supporters in your area.

There are other national and regional events, such as bike races and half marathons, that you can get involved with and raise money for the Lifeboat Fund.  We have published a list here.  Let us know when you've secured a place and we'll put you in touch with supporters in your area and help with publicity and branded materials.   

We are The Lifeboat Fund – we are a charity that exists for one purpose: to help the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) - the charity that saves lives at sea. Over many years we have done this by raising money to pay for new lifeboats, refurbishing lifeboat stations and boats, and buying crew kit, equipment & training for RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards.

Previous Appeals 

2013

The 2013 Lifeboat Fund Appeal focused its support on crew safety and the target for that year was £185,000.

The RNLI asked The Fund to raise sufficient donations to cover the cost of a full kit for one crew member at every lifeboat station in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This meant our goal for each lifeboat crew kit we provided was £770.

Although it sounded like a challenge, it was a challenge The Lifeboat Fund was keen to accept - and the charity delivered!

2012

In 2012, nearly £120,000 was raised across the UK by The Lifeboat Fund to help support the RNLI and three priorities it asked us to support.

The focus of fundraising in Scotland was to raise money to kit out crew members in the latest safety lifejackets.

A second priority was to fundraise for lifeguard training of one person at every UK RNLI-lifeguarded beach.

We also paid maintenance costs at lifeboat stations where The Fund's boats were in service - to keep them in top condition.

2011

The Lifeboat Fund was extremely grateful to all who responded to the popular theme of its 2011 UK Appeal.

The total raised by The Fund that year - to help train and kit out lifeboat crews around the UK - was £122,000.

Training and crew kit are vital and it cost more than £1,200. In 2011 to train each member of the crew.  Equipping these volunteers for their protection cost over £1,100 for an inshore kit and about £1,130 for an all-weather kit.

Laura Turney of Scottish Government's Culture Division told us - 

"I support the Fund because my great grandfather, John Harrison Cammish, died whilst serving on the Scarborough lifeboat.

"Late afternoon on the 8th December 1954, in horrendous weather, after successfully escorting a number of fishing boats into the harbour, the "E.C.J.R." was overwhelmed by a huge swell and capsized near the harbour mouth, just a few hundred yards from the safety of the shore.  Several crewmen were thrown from the lifeboat.

"The loss of lives in a fishing community has a long-lasting resonance that is still remembered and honoured in Scarborough to this day with an annual service to commemorate the tragedy.

"Times have changed, today the volunteers at the RNLI have better kit, better training and better support, and this is due to the fantastic support and value placed on their work; and rightly so."

Jacqueline Davis, who works for the Department for Work and Pensions at Havant Jobcentre, managed to sit for most of the day interviewing customers while wearing the dry suit.  I did take the helmet off! I am a shore crew member of Hayling Island RNLI.  Boat crew have to be 18 to 40/45; over this age you can become shore crew. I joined as a shore helper.  At Hayling Island we run on a shift system; all three shifts are on call and most of us work off the Island.  After work, and back on the Island, if you are on duty, you’re on the pager and ready for a shout.

A shore crew member does various jobs. From driving the tractor that launches the boats to keeping everything clean and ‘ship shape’.  There are two boats: the Atlantic 85 and the ILB D class inflatable. Each boat is launched by being pushed down the beach by a tractor.  I launch the D class boat driving the agricultural tractor. Boat and shore crew undergo extensive training and most of us are first aid trained. I am delighted to be able to help in this way.  Please support the RNLI’s vital work – through The Lifeboat Fund.

Have you ever considered a legacy?

Did you know, six out of ten lifeboat launches are only made possible with the help of a legacy gift?

How a legacy can help Lifeboat Crews long into the future

Many people choose to remember the charities they have supported during their lifetime with a gift in their Will and it can also reduce the tax burden on their estate. If you are thinking of making up or updating your Will, would you consider a legacy gift to The Fund? A simple codicil can be added to any existing Will making a bequest to The Lifeboat Fund.

Please contact the Honorary Secretary for more information.

Mudeford Servant, The Lifeboat Fund's 48th lifeboat, went into service on 22 September 2006 at the Mudeford Lifeboat Station, Dorset.  She is a rigid inflatable lifeboat with a manually operated self-righting mechanism and is capable of being beached in an emergency without sustaining damage to engines or steering gear.  The lifeboat is fitted with radar and VHF direction finding equipment and can be operated safely in daylight in a force 6/7 and at night in a force 5/6.  

By depositing the money into your nearest HSBC bank 

Please use the bank details below:

HSBC Branch: 125 Church Road, Hove BN3 2AN

Account name: The Lifeboat Fund

Account number: 10232491

Sort code: 40-25-06

Cheques or cash can be paid over in this way. In order to identify your department please add a dept. reference on the paying in slip(e.g. HO - Angela Wilson) and email lifeboatfund@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk with details of your deposit. Please keep any receipts in case we need to contact HSBC about the donation.

By credit  or debit card

BT MyDonate is the preferred method  as this is a free donations service. It can also be used for setting up sponsorship pages. Gift Aid is added where appropriate. While all our fundraising goes to the RNLI, for all on-line giving, your credit card transaction should be made through The Fund’s website and not through the RNLI’s, since the RNLI will not be able to trace those funds to identify the total contributed by our charity – and we like to know how much our supporters have donated each year! 

You can also donate using   Virgin Money Giving and JustGiving, however both these services charge a commission on each donation made.

This link takes you to our BT MyDonate page 

This link takes you to our Virgin Money Giving page

This link takes you to our JustGiving page

By cheque

Please send cheques (in the name of The Lifeboat Fund) to 

Angela Wilson

Hon. Treasurer, The Lifeboat Fund

Financial Management Unit

Home Office

4th Floor Seacole NE

2 Marsham Street

London SW1P 4DF.

Please enclose your name, employing organisation and contact number, and notify Angela if you require a receipt.

Gift Aid on collections

If you do a collection on behalf of the Lifeboat Fund we can collect the gift aid in two ways

1. Use the form provided
2. Send an email to lifeboatfund@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk giving details of when and where the collection took place, who was donating (for e.g. workplace etc), the amount collected and when you paid it into the bank. Gift Aid will be collected on this as part of a central Gift Aid claim.

Here is the latest information on the performance of our Lifeboats - to the end of 2013:

*People rescued figures include lives saved

*Our latest lifeboat to be purchased - placed on service at Portrush, September 2010

2013

The 2013 Lifeboat Fund Appeal focused its support on crew safety and the target for that year was £185,000.

The RNLI asked The Fund to raise sufficient donations to cover the cost of a full kit for one crew member at every lifeboat station in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This meant our goal for each lifeboat crew kit we provided was £770.

Although it sounded like a challenge, it was a challenge The Lifeboat Fund was keen to accept - and the charity delivered!

2012

In 2012, nearly £120,000 was raised across the UK by The Lifeboat Fund to help support the RNLI and three priorities it asked us to support.

The focus of fundraising in Scotland was to raise money to kit out crew members in the latest safety lifejackets.

A second priority was to fundraise for lifeguard training of one person at every UK RNLI-lifeguarded beach.

We also paid maintenance costs at lifeboat stations where The Fund's boats were in service - to keep them in top condition.

2011

The Lifeboat Fund was extremely grateful to all who responded to the popular theme of its 2011 UK Appeal.

The total raised by The Fund that year - to help train and kit out lifeboat crews around the UK was £122,000.

Training and crew kit are vital and it cost more than £1,200. In 2011 to train each member of the crew.  Equipping these volunteers for their protection cost over £1,100 for an inshore kit and about £1,130 for an all-weather kit.

Public Servant (Civil Service No. 44) entered the relief fleet in 2012.  Originally entering service on 2nd January 2002 at Lifeboat Pier on the Thames, this E-class lifeboat and associated start-up costs were provided by The Lifeboat Fund at a cost of £270,000. Public Servant joined three other lifeboats providing improved search and rescue on the tidal waterways of the Thames.  From 2010, after extensive service at Lifeboat Pier, she was used as the emergency boat on the river.

This note and information sheet provide more information about life-saving on the Thames.

Sgt. Bob Martin, The Lifeboat Fund's 50th lifeboat, went into service on 4 December 2008 at the Poole Lifeboat Station, Dorset.  The lifeboat is named in memory of Sgt. Bob Martin, a Chelsea Pensioner who raised £200,000 for the RNLI.  Sgt. Bob Martin is an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable lifeboat.

Over the coming weeks we will be publishing latest stories from our fundraisers and RNLI crew to keep you up to date.

Martin Toner, a Welfare Officer from Belfast emailed us to say:
“The RNLI saved me and two of my friends in 2001. 
“We were treated for hypothermia in hospital and advised that we may have only survived another 5-10 minutes in the water, due to our body temperatures being so low.
"I cannot stress enough the great work that RNLI volunteers do and how important they are to saving lives.  No-one knows when they, or a loved one, might require the assistance of the RNLI, and I would encourage anyone to 'dig deep' when contributing to this, very important Fund.”

Alastair Merrill, Director of Procurement says, my team were delighted to play their part in Scottish Government’s 2011 Lifeboat Day fundraisers.

My own commitment comes from a strong sense of personal gratitude.  My wife and her father were rescued by the Poole lifeboat when their yacht got into difficulties in heavy seas and a thunderstorm in Bournemouth Bay.  They both are highly competent sailors, but the sea can turn quickly into a very unforgiving place.  Although the incident was over a quarter of a century ago, my wife still recalls vividly the towering waves and the sight of lightning so close that it looked like a thick hairy rope.   And of course the immense sense of relief when the lifeboat appeared and towed them gratefully and safely back into Poole Harbour. 

I was reminded of this a month ago - sailing in an old wooden ketch with my father-in-law (now 85, and a veritable old sea-dog) - around Studland on the Dorset coast.  As we returned to harbour to avoid a brewing gale, we saw the Poole lifeboat boring a hole in the horizon to assist with a disabled ship several miles offshore. 

Thank goodness for the lifeboats!

Fiona Harrison, former Deputy Director, Greener Scotland, Scottish Government says

“I have sailed all my life one way or another. I'm a qualified skipper and I now enjoy long distance offshore sailing.

“Please help The Lifeboat Fund support the RNLI, who save so many lives at sea, braving conditions none of us would want to be caught in. Lifeboat crews are all volunteers and rely on our donations. All money raised by The Fund goes directly to this wonderful cause.

“ I took a short career break from the Scottish Government to sail round the UK in my 27 foot yacht . There were some scary times and we often heard Mayday calls from others in trouble. It was a huge comfort to know that RNLI were just a radio call away."