What is the RNLI

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a registered charity that saves lives at sea. It provides, on call, the 24-hour service necessary to cover search and rescue requirements to 50 miles out from the coast of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The RNLI depends entirely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income.

There are 230 lifeboat stations strategically placed around the UK and Republic of Ireland.

On average, lifeboats launch over 6,300 times every year and rescue over 6,400 people. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboats have saved over 135,500 lives.

The lifeboat fleet

The RNLI has an active fleet of 320 lifeboats, ranging from 4.9m to 17m in length and a relief fleet, which comprises 131 additional lifeboats. This fleet enables the lifeboat service to reach virtually any point up to 50 miles off the coast within 2 ½ hours of launch in fair weather.

Cost of new lifeboats

Inshore lifeboats
4.9m D class, fully inflatable	£14,000
7.3m Atlantic 75, rigid inftatable	£83,266

All-weather lifeboats
14m Trent	£1,240,452
17m Severn	£1,890,104

Lifeboatmen and women are mostly volunteers. There is a full-time mechanic at each all-weather lifeboat station and, in some cases, also a full-time coxswain. The volunteers receive a few founds each time they are called out to cover their expenses. There are over 250 women in lifeboat crews out of 4,500 volunteer crew members throughout the country.

Running costs

In 2002 it will cost around £103m to run the RNLI (£282,000 per day).

For every £1 spent, 80 pence is spent on maintaining and replacing the existing fleet, building new lifeboats and purchasing new equipment or shore facilities; 17 pence is used for fundraising and 3 pence for administration. Any surplus of income over expenditure in any year is held in the RNLI's reserve fund and used to guarantee the RNLI's boat building programme and other capital projects

For more information about the lifesaving work of the RNLI, please visit our website www.rnli.org.uk or email info@rnli.org.uk

Registered charity number 209603.

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