We're delighted to announce we have selected the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) as our charity partner for 2022 and will be organising branch-wide fundraising events throughout the next 12 months.
The RNLI has been saving lives at sea for nearly 200 years and relies on volunteers and supporters to operate its lifesaving services.
The volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour search and rescue service and depend on donations to ensure they have the best training and safest, most reliable lifeboats and modern stations to launch from, but the charity does so much more. This includes the delivery of a seasonal lifeguard service on over 90 beaches across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, and a water safety education programme that aims to change people’s behaviour around water.
In 2021, volunteer lifeboat crews based at 33 lifeboat stations across the south west launched a total of 1,387 times and assisted 1,350 people. RNLI lifeguards dealt with 11,216 incidents and aided 13,664 people. Together, both RNLI’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards in the south west saved 93 lives, a 20% increase in the number of lives saved in 2020.
Dave Nicoll, RNLI Fundraising & Partnership Lead and volunteer crew member in Cornwall, commented:
“It’s fantastic news that the staff and customers of RGB have selected the RNLI as their chosen charity for this year. We rely on voluntary donations to ensure we can save lives around our coast. The money raised will help to ensure we can continue to carry out this lifesaving work both at sea and on the beaches of the south west.”
Andy Gamble, Managing Director of RGB, added:
“The number of awards and medals that our region’s RNLI lifeboat stations have received is testament to the fantastic work the charity does to protect local people and visitors. We’re delighted to be supporting the charity for the next 12 months and have some exciting fundraising ideas in the pipeline to help our local RNLI volunteer crews to continue saving lives.”