RNLI 200 Voices

When his plane’s engine lost power, Duncan Laisney had to ditch into the sea Former RAF Tornado pilot Duncan Laisney had never trained to ditch an aircraft. So, when an engine failure during a training flight meant he had to ditch into the sea near Jersey, he faced a scary realisation. After Duncan – and co-pilot Paul – started their descent, everything happened incredibly quickly. In 2½ minutes t...

Why working in the RNLI’s Inshore Lifeboat Centre has given Janine Groves the confidence to tackle any job. Apart from catching spiders When Janine Groves joined the RNLI at 19, she had no idea about what’s involved in building a boat. But she quickly learned the ropes, working her way up to Section Leader and now Production Support Manager on the Isle of Wight, where she leads the team who build,...

The 72-year-old RNLI lifeguard who’s still going strong Meet Chris Lewis MBE, the RNLI’s oldest lifeguard. When Chris tried to become an RNLI lifeguard, the rules of the day meant that he was too old. Undeterred, Chris passed the RNLI’s stringent fitness tests and has never looked back. At 72, why does he still do it? And what advice would he give to other aspiring lifeguards who might like to do...

Should you suddenly find yourself in very cold water, your survival could be determined within the first few seconds. Pioneering researcher Professor Mike Tipton MBE explains why Since the Titanic sank in 1912, hypothermia has largely been considered the main danger facing those exposed to very cold water. But sea-survival expert Mike Tipton’s research has revealed that the prime threat is actuall...

In 1914, the WW1 hospital ship Rohilla was wrecked off the Whitby coast. Pete Thomson MBE tells us about one of the biggest rescues in RNLI history When a World War One hospital ship broke into three off the Yorkshire coast, the weather was so bad that lifeboats couldn’t launch directly into the sea. Not to be defeated, RNLI volunteers dragged one lifeboat a quarter of a mile, and lowered another...

How do you search for someone in the middle of the sea in the middle of the night? We asked Tenby lifeboat crew member, Ben James Research has shown that when one of our senses is compromised, others become more heightened. Tenby crew member Ben James talks about the challenges of finding someone at night, and about how the kit that crews rely on includes eyes and ears adjusting to the inky blackn...

Veteran lifeboat Coxswain/Mechanic Nicky King on why Wells RNLI is set to save lives well into the future At the last station to launch boats using horses, there’s a brand new lifeboat in town. And it’s in the care of Nicky King, who’s served at Wells-next-the-Sea for 34 years. Nicky introduces us to the Shanonn class lifeboat Duke of Edinburgh that bears thousands of loved ones’ names – part of t...

Meet the 11-year-old lifeguard-in-the-making who saved a boy from drowning Proud RNLI member Finley loves the stack of Storm Force magazines in his bedroom. But it was on the beach in Cornwall that our water safety tips really leapt off the page. Remembering the Float to Live message shared by Stormy Stan and his cartoon gang, Finley was able to spot the signs of someone in danger and calmly work...

Why Cardigan RNLI’s lifeboat was named after the Paralympian Gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson can’t remember a time when she didn’t know about the lifeboats. So, when she prepared to race in the London Marathon, family connections and childhood memories made the RNLI the obvious choice for fundraising. Before long, a letter would arrive with an unforgettable invitation. From the streets...

Nick McCaffrey – aerial videographer for TV’s Wild Isles – on life at the RNLI’s most northerly lifeboat station Sometimes, the wild weather around the Shetlands is a sight to see, and can make Aith Lifeboat Crew Member Nick McCaffrey feel like he is in the middle of Armageddon. Nick has experienced 100mph winds, and even on a calm, flat day, he warns, it’s easy to get caught out. The weather isn’...

RNLI crews have been saving lives for two hundred years. For more than half of that time, a member of the Grant family has been among them In 2024, Doug Grant’s family will have served with the RNLI for a grand total of 125 years – a history decorated with award-winning rescues. Kessock volunteer Doug talks about a proud family tradition spanning four generations, starting with his grandfather, Ja...

Meet the former Tobermory volunteer called away from her own wedding RNLI crew drop everything at a moment’s notice to answer the call for help – even on their wedding day. Former Tobermory volunteer Rose Skelton reflects on her big day. Her wife’s family had travelled 4,000 miles for the occasion. RNLI crew members formed a guard of honour. And pipers escorted the newlyweds down the Mull streets....

Former Lyme Regis lifesaver Ken Gollop on the pre-launch adrenaline felt by every crew member Some things are just in the blood. Like many RNLI volunteers, Ken Gollop is one of a long line of lifesavers from the same family. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all members of the old pulling lifeboat in Lyme until 1932. So when Ken and his brother joined up, they were doing what came...

How does it feel to send your own daughter on a rescue mission? Bill Dewsbury should know – both his daughters are on the RNLI Flint crew When the pager goes off at 3am, Flint Lifeboat Deputy Launch Authority Bill Dewsbury isn’t the only one who has to get out the door as fast as possible – both of his daughters do too. Bill talks about his family’s commitment to the RNLI, and of having to leave t...

The sports stars who save lives: Paddy McLaughlin, the man behind the RNLI’s partnership with Ireland’s GAA, on the impact it’s made After a devastating drowning in County Cork, RNLI Coxswain Paddy McLaughlin devised a way to reach young people with vital water safety messages. Hear Paddy talk about the power of partnering with the Gaelic Athletics Association, life as crew and how community engag...

The RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats are all named after rivers. Naval Architect Peter Eyre explains what’s so special about the Shannon Peter Eyre talks about the challenges of designing a lifeboat capable of heading into extreme conditions – a lifeboat that can even self-right. Above all, he tells us, it’s about engineering the safety of the crew.  200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the...

A former Salcombe coxswain recalls the day his lifeboat capsized A big sea. Huge, breaking waves. When former RNLI Coxswain Frank Smith and crew went to the rescue of divers in distress, sea conditions were dire. Frank relives the hair-raising, disorientating moment that the lifeboat turned upside down in the waves, and recounts the search for a man washed overboard… 200 Voices is produced by Adve...

Three years after the Titanic, 1200 lives were lost when the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed. 200 Voices talks to the grandson of the last living survivor On 7 May, 1915, en route from New York to Liverpool, the luxury passenger liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine off the coast of Cork. Lusitania sank within 18 minutes. Yet, against the odds, 3-month-old Audrey Lawson Johnston survived...

No stranger to mammoth challenges, globe-trotting sailor Dee Caffari reveals how the RNLI is planning to move to a more sustainable future  Not all of us live close to the sea. But we are all connected to it. Hear about the RNLI’s aims to lessen its environmental impact from professional sailor Dee Caffari, who is Chair of the RNLI’s Sustainability Special Interest Group. As the RNLI looks to the...

There are 238 RNLI lifeboat stations, and Harry Bott set out to visit all of them on a 96-year-old Sunbeam motorcycle Like all the best adventures, it started with a treasure map. This map just happened to be printed on a tea towel. The map – pinpointing all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations – led fundraiser Harry Bott to a granite barn in Cornwall. Inside, rested his great-grandfather’s 1926 Sunbeam Mod...

Artist Kurt Jackson on what moved him to celebrate the work of the RNLI Ever since 8 members of the Penlee Lifeboat crew were lost at sea in 1981, the original Penlee RNLI boathouse has been left just as it was. Cornwall-based artist Kurt Jackson shares what it was like to step inside the listed building as he set out to portray the poignant scene inside. His paintings formed part of the RNLI Corn...

RNLI lifeboats venture up to 100 miles offshore. But some reach as far as Uruguay Dave Whiddon has rowed the Atlantic, spending 60 days in a cramped boat to raise funds for the RNLI. But he's always looking for the next challenge. After 6 years in the Royal Marines, life landed him on Dorset shores as he helped to design the first training courses at the RNLI College. Listen as Dave takes you thro...

Poet and Lough Derg Lifeboat Helm Eleanor Hooker reads her 200th anniversary poem, and reveals the inspiration behind it When Eleanor Hooker was invited to write a poem to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, she knew a sugary tribute wasn’t her style. It couldn’t capture the tangle of raw emotions she’d witnessed first-hand on lifeboat rescues. Instead, she drew on her own experience of being saved...

Khadija Shariff explains how the RNLI’s mission to save every one has helped save lives as far away as East Africa Made up of two main islands – Unguya and Pemba – Zanzibar is a country where daily life and livelihoods are focused around the sea. Khadija Shariff explains why so many lives here are touched by drowning, whether in headline disasters like the sinking of the Spice Islander ferry, or b...

‘The crew saved a life – and it was mine.’ A Newbiggin volunteer on the camaraderie to be found down at the lifeboat station When Steve Harris first walked through the doors of the oldest operational lifeboat boathouse in the UK, it felt like coming home. Steve explains how the strong bonds between the crew have helped him through difficult times. And shares how it feels to be a custodian of a lif...