RNLI Flotilla sails up the Mersey to mark 200 years of life-saving at sea

On the day the RNLI charity turns 200 they've celebrated this historic milestone with a flotilla of North West RNLI lifeboats coming together and sailing side by side along the River Mersey paying tribute to volunteers past and present.

New figures have revealed the The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has now saved a staggering 4,356 lives here in the North West since it was founded two centuries ago.

The volunteer lifeboat and lifeguards of the organisation are taking part in a number of events on Monday 4 March to mark 200 years of service.

Since the charity was founded in 1824, volunteer crews in the North West have launched the lifeboats 16,004 times, saving 4,316 lives, while its lifeguards – who became part of the RNLI’s lifesaving service in 2001 – have responded to 9,762 incidents, saving 40 lives.

In total across the UK and Ireland, 146,452 lives have been saved by the RNLI – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has continued saving lives at sea throughout the tests of its history, including tragic disasters, funding challenges and two World Wars.

The RNLI’s lifesaving reach and remit has also developed over the course of 200 years.

Today, it operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, including four on the River Thames, and has seasonal lifeguards on over 240 lifeguarded beaches around the UK.

It designs and builds its own lifeboats and runs domestic and international water safety programmes.

While much has changed in 200 years, two things have remained the same – the charity’s dependence on volunteers, who give their time and commitment to save others, and the voluntary contributions from the public which have funded the service for the past two centuries.

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