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We are the RNLI

The charity that saves lives at sea

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how to float to live

If you get into difficulty in the water, follow five simple steps to float. 
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join a force for good

Become a member of the RNLI and you'll be joining a lifesaving family, working together to save every one we can.
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Find your nearest lifeguarded beach

Keep you and your loved ones safe at the seaside by choosing a lifeguarded beach.
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Launch a Memory

Add your loved one's name to Exmouth's Shannon class lifeboat and their memory will help save lives at sea
Four RNLI lifesavers stand in a wet Trafalgar Square. From left to right: An RNLI lifeguard, all-weather lifeboat crew member, inshore lifeboat crew member, and a face-to-face fundraiser.

RNLI 200: A story of kindness

With your support, this story of kindness can continue. Will you help us mark 200 years of lifesaving?
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Shop and save lives at sea

Everything you buy from the RNLI shop helps support lifeboat crews and lifeguards in their mission to save every one they can
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RNLI 200 voices

Listen to our new podcast as we share true tales of how the RNLI has touched lives for almost 200 years

Rescue stories your support made possible

Yarmouth’s Severn class lifeboat passes by The Needles. There is one crew member at the front of the boat on the lower deck, and five crew looking out from the upper deck.
Rescue
Rescue
‘It was like looking for a needle in a haystack’
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Stephen Manson, an all-weather lifeboat crew member, smiles at the camera next to a dock
A battle against the storm
A crowd gathers around the wreck of the Arbroath lifeboat Robert Lindsay as it lies on rocks where it was washed ashore
Disaster at Arbroath
Tower RNLI Crew Member Nazrawi Mamoneh stands in front of Tower Bridge in London
Tower Lifeboat Station: A lifesaving landmark
The beach at Portrush, with a calm, blue sea, a stretch of golden sand, and backed by white cliffs
In a flash: Caught in a rip current
All stories

Rescue stories your support made possible

Yarmouth’s Severn class lifeboat passes by The Needles. There is one crew member at the front of the boat on the lower deck, and five crew looking out from the upper deck.
‘It was like looking for a needle in a haystack’
When two paddleboarders go missing, seven lifeboats launch to their rescue. Will the crews find them before darkness falls?
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Stephen Manson, an all-weather lifeboat crew member, smiles at the camera next to a dock
A battle against the storm
7 crew members. 16 hours at sea. Force 10 winds. 3 lives saved.
 
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A crowd gathers around the wreck of the Arbroath lifeboat Robert Lindsay as it lies on rocks where it was washed ashore
Disaster at Arbroath
On 27 October 1953, six brave Arbroath lifeboat crew members lost their lives after their lifeboat capsized
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Tower RNLI Crew Member Nazrawi Mamoneh stands in front of Tower Bridge in London
Tower Lifeboat Station: A lifesaving landmark
When Tower Lifeboat Station was established in the heart of London, the crew never imagined they would become the busiest of all the RNLI’s 238 lifeboat stations – and the first to reach a milestone 10,000 launches. Here’s their story. 
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The beach at Portrush, with a calm, blue sea, a stretch of golden sand, and backed by white cliffs
In a flash: Caught in a rip current
When a family of three are caught out by a rip current, quick-thinking lifeguards rush to the rescue.
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All stories

In an emergency at the coast, call 999 or 112 and ask for the coastguard.

Float to live campaigner Simon Chrisp on the 200 Voices podcast

200 Voices: Simon Chrisp

Hear Simon tell how Float to Live saved his son's life in Episode 177 of the RNLI 200 Voices podcast

Listen nowMore podcasts

Latest lifeboat launches

Latest launches
D class inshore lifeboat launches from a tractor into heavy surf

True stories of courage

Visit our online magazine to read some of the most thrilling, dramatic and inspiring rescue stories carried out by RNLI lifesavers
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