RNLI 200 years

Two-hundred years ago, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity was created. The service's motto is "saving lives at sea", but its beginnings were very much on dry land - right in the heart of the City of London.

A lifeboat service was the vision of Sir William Hillary, a resident of the Isle of Man, who published a pamphlet detailing his plans in 1823. However, they fell on deaf ears until he convinced a group of influential men in the City of London to take notice.

A year later, at a meeting in the London Tavern on Bishopsgate on the night of 4 March 1824, the great and the good of London high society gathered to discuss the plans.

They included the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Liberal MP for Southwark Thomas Wilson and the anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce - whose names can be seen on the written records of the meeting which are held in the RNLI's archives.



The Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity was first established in the London Tavern on 4 March 1824


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68434896

There has been a lot of coverage on TV today, what a wonderful job they do.
The RLNI, receives 94% of its income from donations and gets less than 1% of its funding from government sources.
The remaining 6% comes from income sources such as trading and investments.
Considering the important work they do, and with unpaid volunteers, wouldn’t it be great if they got more Government support?

They should be paid by the government for all those rescues they do in the chanel.

I've always supported the RNLI

Yes, a great organisation. I have a colleague on the Lancaster Canal boat who is also a volunteer with local RNLI near Lytham.

These men are the bravest, as they go out mostly in bad weather when someone is in trouble.

Kindest regards to them all.........