page_title: Royal National Lifeboat Institution
section_title: Lifeboat stations
hierarchical_section_title: Royal National Lifeboat Institution / Operations / Lifeboat stations
caption_attribution_description: English: Douglas Lifeboat Station
context_page_description: The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. There are numerous other lifeboat services operating in the same area.
  Founded in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, the RNLI was granted a Royal Charter in 1860. It is a charity in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. Queen Elizabeth II is Patron. The RNLI is principally funded by legacies and donations, and most of the members of its lifeboat crews are unpaid volunteers.
  The RNLI, whose main base is in Poole, Dorset, has 238 lifeboat stations and operates 444 lifeboats. Crews rescued on average 22 people a day in 2015. RNLI Lifeguards operate on more than 200 beaches. They are paid by local authorities, while the RNLI provides equipment and training. The Institution also operates Flood Rescue Teams nationally and internationally, the latter prepared to travel to emergencies overseas at short notice.
context_section_description: There are 238 RNLI lifeboat stations around the coasts of the UK, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Tower Lifeboat Station on the River Thames in London is the RNLI's busiest, in 2013 rescuing 372 people and saving 25 lives. In 2015 Tower's launches had increased to 465. Five new lifeboat station buildings were completed in 2013.
  For public access the RNLI classifies stations as one of three types: Explore, which are normally open all year round and have a shop, Discover, normally open during the summer months and Observe which, because of their location, still welcome visitors but may not be easily accessible.
  From time to time the RNLI may close a station; some of these are later reopened by independent services. The history of some former lifeboat stations can be found in Wikipedia articles on the places where those stations were. (See also: List of Lifeboat Disasters in the British Isles for further information on closed stations.)
caption: Lifeboat station and slipway at Douglas, Isle of Man
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