RNLI

quercuscommunity

Jun 11

Did you know there are between 80 and 100 independent rescue services operating on the coast and inland waters of the UK and Ireland? I didn't until I was looked up Mundesley in Norfolk for details of the Minesweeping Memorial and found out they had a private lifeboat. This shows the educational value of Wikipedia, though it does also question the value of education. I am more knowledgeable as a result of knowing this, but I am not more employable or of more use to society.

The RNLI is our best known rescue service, having been formed in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. It became "Royal" some time later and the name was changed to the current one in 1854. The founder was Sir William Hillary, who took part in a number of rescues, including one in 1830, when he was 60 years old. He initially sent a proposal to the Admiralty for the setting up of a life saving service but eventually raised the money to start the service by soliciting donations.

That is one of the reasons that the RNLI operates in Ireland. Although government services such as the Coastguard were withdrawn in 1922 with the formation of the Irish Free State, the RNLI continued operating as it was a charitable organisation. One RNLI Station, Portrush, actually operates in three countries (Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland). Lough Erne is the site of a station that serves an inland waterway in two countries. It's curious that the RNLI can solve questions of cross-border working where the combined governments of the UK and EU can't.