RNLI Poole Dorset Protest
"A £200 donation plea from Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has sparked protests among local residents in Christchurch over fears the money will fund a “taxi service” for small boat migrants." GB News
Read about it here: https://www.gbnews.com/news/migrant-crisis-rnli-protest-small-boats-dorset
Firstly this is NOT a political article.
My views, your views, the country views on illegal immigration has no place in our group this about our RNLI and the current situation effecting them.
Come the day one of us finds ourselves be that accidentally or through daftness stuck far out at sea in fading light while a cold air threatens with dark, deep water below us and we see the welcoming lights of the RNLI coming to drag us back to dry land we will be so thankful we would donate everything we have.
The good news is we do NOT have to donate everything we have because the RNLI do this dangerous job FOR FREE and for ANYONE who finds themselves in trouble out at sea.
The bad news is that the RNLI coffers are drying up and where there's no cash to operate when you find yourself stuck at sea it is down to pure luck you don't die - it really is that simple.
The RNLI exists for ALL not just those who we think deserves it from commercial sailors and fishermen to paddle boarders or unlucky dog walkers - the question is should the RNLI pick up people who make mistakes, get cut of by the tide or go to sea on a paddle board with no clue on the weather?
The protest is based on the assumption that the RNLI is acting as a taxi to pick up illegal immigrants arriving in the UK by boat. The RNLI are not a political inspired organisation - they are neutral and therefore if they are called to pick up these people that's exactly what they must do else where do we draw the line? Do we abandon the paddle boarder who heads to sea in "iffy" weather because it's "their fault"?
We must not punish the RNLI for doing what they are morally required to do - save lives at sea.
Key 2025 Rescue Highlights & Data
- High Volume Activity: In early 2026, the RNLI reported that in 2025, crews and lifeguards were on 24/7 standby, dealing with everything from flooded, unseaworthy vessels in the English Channel to holidaymakers in trouble.
- Targeted Incidents: Specific 2025 incidents included multiple rescues of people cut off by tides, particularly in areas like Sully Island.
- Active Rescue Season: Porthcawl RNLI reported numerous incidents, including saving a surfer in Force 7/8 winds and multiple boat propeller entanglement rescues.
- Lifeguard Operations: RNLI lifeguards in places like County Down managed back-to-back rescues involving kids on kayaks and paddle boarders drifting into shipping lanes.
- Fleet Evolution: To meet demand, the RNLI continued upgrading stations, replacing older Trent and Severn class lifeboats with modern Shannon class vessels.
Key 2025 RNLI small boat rescue details
- Channel Crossings: Volunteer crews in the South East were frequently called to overcrowded and unseaworthy small boats, with reports highlighting, for example, 19 individuals rescued from a single, perilous incident.
- Rescue Statistics: By late July 2025, the RNLI reported that they had already rescued 1,371 people from, dangerous, small boats in the Channel.
- Diverse Rescues: Beyond the Channel, 2025 saw rescues involving overturned kayaks, small motorboats, and, sailing dinghies, such as in the Moelfre incident involving a, deflating,, kayak with two, people, on, board.
- Commitment: The RNLI emphasises that its, role is purely to save lives at sea and that it will not, apologise for, rescuing, anyone in danger, regardless of their circumstances.
- Volunteers: The, dedicated, volunteer crews in 2025 continued to operate in, challenging, weather conditions, for, example, at stations like, Dover, and, Courtown.
In 2024, RNLI lifeboat launches to Channel small boat incidents accounted for approximately 1.2% of their total 9,141 launches, according to data from The Independent. While a small percentage of total calls, these incidents involved rescuing 1,371 people, representing a significant portion of the lives saved.
- 2024 Data: 114 launches to small boat incidents (1.2% of 9,141 total launches).
- 2022 Data: 290 launches (about 3% of total).
- Context: These rescues, often in dangerous conditions, represented over 25% of the total lives saved by RNLI lifeboats in 2022.
- Nature of Rescue: The RNLI operates in a humanitarian capacity to rescue people in distress at sea.
Whether you are a fan of illegal immigration or not leave it to the politicians not the RNLI. They are there to rescue people who are in trouble on the sea and one day that may be you or I and they will come get you without judging you, your original, your skin, religion or whether you were correctly trained, clothed or plain daft with the weather and for that we must be thankful they THEY DO NOT JUDGE!
So what can we do about this? Firstly, if you put to sea you need to donate to the RNLI - call it insurance! It's not for scrapes and repairs it insures you do not drown!
For us in Exmouth take a look here: https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/exmouth-lifeboat-station
Please do consider a donation or better still a regular donation because one day you may well need them and when that day comes you will donate everything you have not to drown in the cold, deep, dark sea - think about that.
Credits
Photo courtesy of the RNLI.