RNLI says volunteers saved 355 lives last year, with London stations the busiest

A total of 355 lives were saved by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) last year, data shows, with more callouts along the Thames than anywhere else.

The figure represents a significant drop in rescues compared with the previous year, when 506 lives were saved by volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards.

Lifeboats were launched 9,192 times in 2023, a similar number to the previous year, when there were 9,289 lifeboat launches.

Though the organisation’s lifeboat stations are a familiar picture in coastal towns and villages across the UK and Ireland, London’s Waterloo Bridge was the busiest lifeboat station in 2023, followed by Chiswick, also in the capital.

In 2022, 20% of the people saved by the charity were migrants attempting to make the crossing to England on small boats. The RNLI would not say what proportion of the 2023 figure was made up of people rescued from small boats, though channel crossings dropped by a third in 2023, according to the Refugee Council.

The RNLI said crews could be tasked “for many and varied reasons” and a number of factors had contributed to the drop in rescues.

The charity, which was originally founded to help rescue people caught up in shipwrecks, and is celebrating its 200th birthday, has launched a fundraising campaign asking people to cover a mile a day in May to raise money to help pay for training volunteer crews and for the specialist equipment used to make rescues.

Related: RNLI celebrates 200th anniversary after saving nearly 150,000 lives

Peter Emmett, head of engagement at the RNLI, said: “This year, the RNLI has been saving lives at sea for 200 years. We’re now coming up to our busiest time of year, so we’re putting out our call for help to raise the funds which will help keep our life-saving service going today and into the future.

“Our incredible lifeboat crews across the UK and Ireland launched over 9,000 times last year to help those in need, and our lifeguards kept people safe across hundreds of beaches. As a charity, we rely on the generous support of members of the public to continue this life-saving work.

“It’s clear from these new figures that demand for our services remains high, with our life-savers dropping everything to run to the lifeboat station when the call comes in. Every Mayday Mile completed will raise funds to go towards ensuring we are ready whenever the call for help comes in. It’s so easy to get involved, and to have fun whilst helping the RNLI save lives.”

On Saturday, crews near Aberdeen rescued four paddleboarders who had got into difficulty near a local landmark, Bow Fiddle Rock.