Lifeboats and lifeguards save 'almost one life every day' in 2020, new figures reveal
ITV News Meridian reporter Chlöe Oliver looks back how the RNLI fared in 2020
Lifeboats and lifeguards around the coast saved almost one life every single day in 2020, latest figures have revealed.
Rescue statistics from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) show a total of 349 lives saved by the charity's lifeboat crews and lifeguards last year.
Volunteers are Poole Lifeboat Station launched 144 times last year, bringing 157 people back to safety, including saving three years.
Of those launches, 64 were in darkness.
Paul Glatzel, an RNLI volunteer, said that "packed beaches around the coast as restrictions lifted" meant "a hugely busy season for...Poole Lifeboat Station and for the RNLI as a whole."
The rescue figures have been released as the RNLI prepares to launch its Mayday fundraising campaign.
The institution, which is entirely funded by charitable donations, is calling on supporters to take on a 'Mayday Mile' - running at least one mile throughout the month of May to raise money.
Volunteers at Poole lifeboat station are aiming to cover 1,000 miles in their own Mayday challenge over the bank holiday weekend.