On 4 March 2024, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) turned 200 years old. As the year draws to a close, the charity is reflecting on a momentous year and has released a film of highlights from this major milestone anniversary.
Throughout 2024, the RNLI has remembered its 200 years of history, celebrated the lifesaving service it provides today and aimed to inspire future generations of lifesavers and supporters to take the charity into its third century and beyond. Since it was founded, the charity’s lifesavers have saved over 146,000 lives.
To mark the 200th anniversary on 4 March, a Service of Thanksgiving was held at Westminster Abbey in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent as President of the RNLI, attended by representatives from every RNLI lifesaving community around Ireland and the UK. The service took place at the same time the RNLI founding papers were signed back in 1824.
Flotillas took place on the River Mersey and the River Tyne, while a number of national monuments and historical buildings lit up yellow — including the London Eye, Dover Castle, the Millennium Bridge and Broughty Ferry lifeboat station in Scotland. There was a special birthday message displayed across the BT Tower, and two special stamps from An Post, which depict the charity’s lifesaving work in Ireland, were unveiled.
Further Services of Thanksgiving were held during the year at locations including Glasgow, Norwich, Llandaff, York and on the Isle of Man, which was home to the RNLI’s founder, Sir William Hillary.
In May, a flotilla of 40 lifeboats took place in Poole, where the charity has its headquarters. The RNLI also opened the doors to its inshore and all-weather lifeboat facilities (at Cowes and Poole respectively) so the public could see first-hand the work involved in building and maintaining the lifeboat fleet. Bamburgh Castle and Pembroke Castle both hosted special RNLI Open Days to mark the charity’s bicentenary.
Also in May, shortly after His Majesty King Charles III was confirmed as the charity’s new patron, a Buckingham Palace garden party was held for RNLI volunteers, in recognition of their commitment to the charity in its bicentennial year.
During the year, a number of special RNLI 200th anniversary products were launched, including a Royal Mint 50p coin; two books — To Save Every One: 200 Years of RNLI Courage and One Crew: The RNLI’s Official 200-Year History; a rose named With Courage, which was unveiled by the breeder, Peter Beales, at the Chelsea Flower Show; and stamps which were available in Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
Several exhibitions dedicated to the RNLI have been held this year. Historic Dockyard Chatham held RNLI 200: The Exhibition, while the National Maritime Museum Greenwich hosted Women of the RNLI. RNLI exhibitions were also held at Falmouth, Swansea, Peel (Isle of Man), St David’s and Belfast. In further recognition of the charity’s significant history, a blue plaque was unveiled on the site of the first RNLI headquarters in the City of London.
During the year, a scroll bearing the RNLI pledge travelled to RNLI communities (lifeboat stations, lifeguard units and fundraising branches) being signed by representatives at each location on its route. The scroll started its journey at Westminster Abbey on 4 March, where it was signed by RNLI President, HRH The Duke of Kent. It completed its journey on the Isle of Man in October and now carries the signatures of over 900 RNLI representatives.
In August, hundreds of RNLI representatives took part in a special photo event, One Moment for One Crew, in which they took a photo of themselves, their crew or their team and submitted it for inclusion in a montage image, to capture a snapshot of those involved with the charity in its 200th year. In the same month, the Association of Sail Training Organisations (ASTO) marked the RNLI’s 200th anniversary when 130 young participants in their annual sail race visited the RNLI’s headquarters in Poole after completing their race.
The anniversary of the first ever street fundraising collection, held by the RNLI in Manchester in 1891, was marked with an event called Coast to Cobbles in October. The event saw a Shannon class lifeboat travelling to Salford Quays in Manchester via RNLI stations on the north-west coast of England, carrying a time capsule into which RNLI crews placed significant items.
The RNLI’s 200th anniversary has also been given special recognition at events including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Annual National Service for Seafarers at St Paul’s Cathedral, the Lord Mayor’s Show and the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
Anjie Rook, RNLI associate director responsible for overseeing the RNLI’s 200th anniversary programmes, says: “The RNLI is an incredible organisation — it has remained focused on its core purpose of saving lives at sea for 200 years, thanks to its dedicated lifesavers, who give their time and commitment to rescue others, and its supporters, whose voluntary donations have funded the service for the past two centuries.
“We’re proud and grateful to be able to reflect on 2024 as a year of poignant events and activities which have fittingly marked the major milestone of the RNLI’s 200th anniversary. We have remembered the RNLI’s past, we have celebrated the lifesaving service of today and, importantly, we have aimed to inspire those who will take the charity into its third century of saving lives at sea.”
