Appeal For Volunteers On London Lifeboat Day

Rattle a collection box for the RNLI at city locations

Volunteers are needed by the RNLI to help save lives in London by rattling collection buckets at train stations throughout London Lifeboat Day.

Tuesday 29 April is the one day a year the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is allowed to collect on the streets of the city.

The money raised will help pay for the RNLI’s lifesaving work including running the three lifeboat stations on the River Thames in London, which combined rescued 372 people last year and saved 25 lives.

The charity will be concentrating its fundraising efforts at railway stations and needs volunteers to collect money at the following locations in particular.

• Cannon Street
• Charing Cross
• Clapham Junction
• Euston
• Kings Cross
• Liverpool Street
• Paddington

However, anyone wanting to collect at a London station not listed above may still be able to. To become a collector, simply fill out a form at rnli.org/londonlifeboats.

Alex Drury, RNLI Community Support Co-ordinator, said: ‘We’ll be collecting from 7am to 7pm throughout the day but we’d be grateful for any time people can spare, whether that’s an hour before work or the whole day.

‘The atmosphere among the collectors is brilliant which makes it a really fun day and we always get a great response from the public. You’ll also get to wear yellow all-weather gear which is well worth a selfie.

‘But as well as having fun, our collectors take pride in the fact they are helping to save lives in London and around the coast by collecting money for the RNLI.’

Tower lifeboat station located next to Waterloo Bridge in central London is the busiest in the UK and Ireland. It is one of three lifeboat stations serving London along with Chiswick and Teddington. Despite rescuing hundreds of people each year, only one in six Londoners know about the RNLI’s lifesaving work in the city.

April 10, 2014