RNLI - the public came through
They have faced 33-foot waves, blizzards, force 9 gales and sub-zero temperatures.
Image: Murray Langton
Cat wrote below about Josie Grove's Dragonfly charity for terminally ill children, and mentioned that there were more than 170,000 British charities. Here is another great one whose appeal just came in my post -
For 184 years the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's lifeboat crews have been going to sea to save lives - on average 8,000 a year. On call 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, they receive no government funding.
The RNLI was established by Sir William Hillary who was 60 when he took part in the rescue, in 1830, of the packet St George, which had foundered on Conister Rock. He commanded the lifeboat and was washed overboard with others of the lifeboat crew at one point, but everyone aboard the St George was rescued with no loss of life.
Sir William's appeals for help from government received little response, but the public came through, and they have ever since.
There are more than 230 volunteer lifeboat stations around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. £20 will keep a lifeboat running for 5 minutes or help pay for sea boots. To contribute and read about some of their recent rescues.
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