RNLI Annual Report and Accounts 2018
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RNLI Annual Report and Accounts 2018 Lifesaving powered by inspirational people Contents Welcome We are the RNLI: The charity that saves lives at sea Annual Report Welcome from the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Trustees of the Royal Every day of every year, people The RNLI is powered by inspirational people, Strong alliances also help to keep RNLI of all backgrounds get into National Lifeboat Institution and the work we achieved together in 2018 people safer. For example, our new partnership is saving lives right now. with Helly Hansen is providing our lifeavers danger in the water. It’s a Our lifesavers aided thousands of people with the very best in protective clothing. problem we’re here to tackle. Our purpose, our impact 3 across the UK and Ireland last year. And their Meanwhile, the six new all-weather Shannons fellow volunteers welcomed millions of visitors and 22 inshore lifeboats that rolled off our Our people 9 through our doors, with those in our shops in-house production lines in 2018 will also give We’re here to explain the risks, and branches generating an incredible them the protection they need and deserve. share safety knowledge and Supporting lifesavers 15 fundraising total. The expertise, courage and commitment of RNLI people never ceases to amaze me. rescue people whose lives are Preventing drowning 21 ‘ We helped people enjoy the water Together, we helped other people enjoy the water more safely – and enabled our lifesavers in danger. more safely and enabled our to rescue those in danger. Building for the future 27 lifesavers to rescue those in danger’ We’re here to work with others So, thank you for your support. You make Financial review 31 all of this possible. to make the water a safer place These local networks were supported by a wider community of volunteers, supporters and for everyone. Governance 37 staff – like those who pulled out the stops to Stuart Popham make fundraising events like Mayday and Fish RNLI Chairman Paul Boissier and Stuart Popham at the RNLI College, Poole We’re here to prevent tragedies Independent auditor’s report 49 Supper a success. Our campaigns raised safety awareness as well as funds. Respect the Water inshore and offshore. And with Financial statements 51 brought great results – with more people 2018 was a year of challenges for many of us growing our influence as a global thought- help others understand why the RNLI mission your help, we always will be. telling us that our ‘float to live’ message had at the RNLI and I am so proud that we have leader in drowning prevention. is so important. I think it’s vital that our charity Notes to the accounts 57 helped to save their lives. And our education risen to meet them together. This is vital because nobody should drown. continues to broaden its relevance too – that’s volunteers and face-to-face teams shared There were things we needed to sort out We know that the vast majority of drownings the only way it will sustain itself. Officers and contacts 79 safety messages with hundreds of thousands to get our charity on the right footing for can be avoided, so long as people take the Working for the RNLI over the last decade more adults and children – all working in, the future. So I really want to thank all our right steps. We need to share our knowledge far has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, Governance and with, and for the community. I would like to supporters, crews, volunteers and staff for and wide, get the right interventions in place, and I’ve had the opportunity to work with some management structure 83 take this opportunity to say a big thank you getting us to this point with such enthusiasm, and drive down those stats – preventing as of the best people in the world. We’ve done a to them all. hard work and good grace. We are now in a many drownings as possible. huge amount of good over the last decade. And Awards 84 We worked with others to tackle drowning strong position to really start building on that I believe our charity is in good shape to grow its overseas too, and I was proud to see this first groundwork to reach our goals. ‘ The vast majority of drownings can influence and move forward into the future. Thank you 85 hand in Bangladesh and fully understand In 2019 we will continue to enhance our be avoided – so long as people take Thank you for everything you do to help the difference we are making there with rescue service by modernising equipment, save lives at sea. our partners. Our drowning prevention getting new lifeboats out on our coasts, and the right steps’ programmes there are so well-researched and building and refurbishing stations for them. far-reaching, and we can apply what we learn We will ramp up our prevention work, expand We all have a part to play in spreading the Paul Boissier to the work we do in our home waters. our international programmes and continue word of this extraordinary organisation and to RNLI Chief Executive 1 2 Our purpose, our impact WHAT WE DO Our purpose, RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews provide a 24-hour rescue service in the UK and Ireland, and our seasonal lifeguards look after people on busy beaches. Our in-house experts and specially-trained volunteers also support flood rescue throughout the UK. This forms our Concept of Operations our impact in the UK and Ireland, which works to measurable performance standards. We aim to prevent drowning by WE’RE MORE THAN A RESCUE SERVICE Wherever drowning occurs, we aim to defeat it. With your empowering communities and saving LIFEBOATS COMMUNITY SAFETY FUNDING support the RNLI can break the drowning chain and make early interventions by influencing, supervising and educating lives through these principal activities: Our crews aim to launch their lifeboats within 10 minutes of being Making people safer is core to the RNLI’s operations and As a charity independent of government, we rely on the people. We work with partners to understand the risks and notified, and can operate up to 100 nautical miles out to sea. underpins our aim to halve the number of accidental coastal generous support of donors to meet the cost of our lifesaving offer innovative solutions – and our Community Safety We aim to reach at least 90% of casualties within 10 nautical miles fatalities in the UK and Ireland by 2024. We use research, activities. We set exacting standards in our fundraising to teams share that knowledge with anyone using the water to of the coast, within 30 minutes of a lifeboat launch in any weather. targetted campaigns and lifesaving plans to encourage changes protect and maintain good relationships with our supporters keep them safer. We share that expertise internationally too. The vast majority of crew members are volunteers. in people’s behaviour, in and around the water. and ensure financial stability. We give support to countries where drowning rates are significant, and work with like-minded organisations to raise awareness of the problem and how we can address it together. These lifesaving activities are underpinned by people and initiatives that generate income and ensure that we are well- governed and compliant. OUR VOLUNTEERS Volunteers are the lifeblood of our charity, supported by expert staff working in partnership to enable communities to save lives. Around 95% of RNLI people are volunteers – including around 5,500 crew members, 3,500 shore crew (including station management), 180 lifeguards and 23,000 community fundraisers. Thousands more dedicated volunteers raise awareness, give safety advice and help in LIFEGUARDS INTERNATIONAL FLOOD RESCUE our museums, shops and offices. Find out more about our people on page 9. Lifeguards aim to reach anyone up to 300m from shore, We are working to get the global drowning problem onto Our specially-trained flood rescue teams can reach nearly within the red and yellow flags on RNLI-patrolled beaches, the agenda of policy makers. We collaborate with other any flood rendezvous point in the UK within 6 hours. in 3½ minutes. organisations to understand the causes of drowning, undertake research, and design and test solutions. 3 4 Our purpose,purpose our impact Our purpose, our impact OUR IMPACT IN 2018 • There were improvements in some of our key organisational 2019 FOCUS DANGER RISING • RNLI lifeboat crews aided 9,412 people, with our lifeguards measures such as average crew competency for critical We have set out a business improvement plan for 2019 that is Appledore RNLI volunteers put all their training and aiding a further 32,207 (8,072 and 24,044 in 2017 command roles, percentage of stock delivered to the coast focused on: 4 equipment into action when a frightened young couple got respectively). Together, they saved 329 lives last year (248 in on-time and in full, and lifeboat volunteer turnover. • stabilising and securing the delivery of our rescue services known drownings prevented as a direct trapped in a cave trying to escape powerful waves 2017). and providing greater levels of support to our local lifesaving in September. • We reached around 46M people with our ‘float to live’ Where the Quarterly Performance Reviews showed us as communities result of Respect the Water (7 in 2017) The inshore lifeboat crew spotted the teenagers message and more individuals told us that it helped to save being off-track, corrective actions were identified to get us back • starting to address key areas of risk and compliance, among rocks, waving a mobile phone light in desperation.