The RNLI 200 scroll comes to Appledore.
On Friday 19 April 2024 Appledore RNLI reconfirmed its commitment to the RNLI and to continue to save lives at sea.
Founded 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 been saving lives at sea for 200 years. Since the charity was founded, the charity’s lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
Two centuries have seen vast developments in the lifeboats and kit used by the charity’s lifesavers, and the charity’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.
‘Connecting our Communities’ is a key marker of the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, a relay-style event where a scroll, bearing the RNLI pledge, is being passed through RNLI communities – lifeboat stations, lifeguard units and fundraising branches – around the UK and Ireland and being signed by representatives at each location on its route.
On this scroll is the RNLI’s One Crew pledge, in which volunteers from the RNLI promise their commitment to saving every one they can, without judgment – staying true to Sir William Hillary’s vision when he founded the charity in 1824.
The pledge reads: ‘Whoever we are, wherever we are from, we are one crew, ready to save lives. We’re powered by passion, talent and kindness, like generations of selfless lifesavers before us. This is our watch, we lead the way, valuing each other, trusting each other, depending on one another, volunteering to face the storm together. Knowing that, with courage, nothing is impossible. That is what has always driven us to save every one we can. It's what makes every one of us a lifesaver.’
Beneath the pledge, printed in seven languages (English, Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Ulster Scots, Manx, and Cornish), it says: ‘Signed in 2024 by representatives of the RNLI’s lifesaving communities, on behalf of all who strive to save every one.’
On Friday 19 April Appledore RNLI was the 51st Station to sign with four signatories:
Bob Meller – Appledore RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager, signature 220
Martin Cox – Appledore RNLI Coxswain and deputy Mechanic, signature 221
Roy Broad – Chair - Appledore RNLI Fundraising Guild, signature 222
Shooey Maccall – Appledore RNLI Station Shop, signature 223
The scroll began its journey on Monday 4 March 2024, at a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey to mark the charity’s official 200th anniversary, where it was signed by RNLI President, HRH The Duke of Kent, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dean of Westminster, the RNLI’s Chair and the RNLI’s Chief Executive.
Bob Meller, Lifeboat Operations Manager, Appledore RNLI, says:
‘It was an honour to sign the scroll on behalf of the Appledore RNLI Operations Team and to continue our pledge to save lives at sea. Appledore RNLI was founded the same year as the RNLI in August 1824 and got its first RNLI lifeboat on 28 February the following year, 1825. This was one of the first, if not the first, ever RNLI’s lifeboats and was aptly named ‘The Volunteer’. During the two centuries of Appledore RNLI the crew have been credited for 2,796 lifeboat launches and saving 673 lives. Amongst the many awards presented locally, members of the crew have been awarded 22 silver medals, six bronze medals and 4 foreign medals, all for gallantry, a word defined as: spirited and conspicuous bravery, heroic bravery, fearlessness, daring and courage.
‘Two centuries have seen vast developments in the lifeboats and kit used by the charity’s lifesavers – from the early oar-powered vessels to today’s technology-packed boats, including Mollie Hunt, Appledore’s all-weather Tamar class lifeboat, and Glanely, its inshore Atlantic 85; and from the rudimentary cork lifejackets of the 1850s to the full protective kit each crew member is now issued with. However the commitment from the volunteers remains the same, and as strong, as it ever was’
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.