North Berwick RNLI saved two lives in 2025 according to official statistics

Whilst the number of launches at North Berwick decreased from last year (28 launches in 2024), Helm Simon Cowan explained that the numbers aren’t the full story; ‘Last year we were tasked by the UK Coastguard to more time critical medical emergencies than in other years, one tasking for example was to a casualty suffering from a heart attack on the beach.’

‘When a casualty is in a remote location it can delay them getting the help they need but thankfully the local Coastguard Rescue Teams are fantastic at locating people quickly. The Coastguard Rescue Teams are often on foot so it can be hard to extract casualties over land without significant numbers of people’.

‘They’re able to guide us into the casualty’s location and so that we can bring our casualty care knowledge and equipment to stabilise the casualty until the Scottish Ambulance Service arrive, or sometimes we evacuate them back to the station on the lifeboat.’

‘Whilst we and the Coastguard Rescue Teams are trained to a high level of casualty care and the lifeboat carries life saving medicine and pain relief, we aren’t trained to diagnose, just to stabilise the casualty until they can be handed over for further care.‘

'It can be quite daunting to bring a very unwell casualty onto the lifeboat as we are on our own out there until we get back to station. The crew received our three yearly re-training in Casualty Care in March last year so we were fully current by the time the busy spring-summer season of call outs started.'

‘We believe all of the casualties made a full recovery, one even popped by the station a few weeks later to say thank you and share their treatment once they arrived in hospital. Knowing you’ve contributed to someone’s journey back to full health really makes you proud of the RNLI volunteers here in North Berwick.'

It cost £1,360 a year to train each crew member in the lifesaving skills they need, such as casualty care, to respond to a call for help. Some of this money is raised by North Berwick’s shop and fundraising volunteers who staffed an impressive 638 shifts in the shop, and organised 21 fundraising events in 2025 events. They can’t however do it alone.

Although North Berwick saw a slight reduction in launches (potentially due to fewer false alarms with good intent), 2025 was the 6^th busiest year on record for the RNLI as a whole.

Ricky Martin, Lifeboat Operations Manager at North Berwick said: ‘Our crews are always ready to respond, but we can only do what we do thanks to the public’s generosity. This May, we’re asking people to step up and support us through the Mayday Mile so we can keep saving lives when it matters most.’

‘Every launch represents someone in urgent need - and our volunteers drop everything to help. With warmer weather approaching, Mayday is our chance to make sure we have the equipment and training needed for whatever comes next.’

To sign up for the Mayday Mile, or to make a donation in support of the RNLI’s lifesavers, visit RNLI.org/supportMayday

The Mayday Mile

The RNLI’s data shows the high demand on lifeboat crews across the charity’s 238 lifeboat stations, and so the charity is putting out its own ‘Mayday’ call, urging the public to get involved with its biggest national fundraising event, the Mayday Mile, to help fund its vital lifesaving service.

Participants are challenged to cover a mile a day for the month of May, with every penny raised helping to make sure that the charity’s lifesavers have everything they need to keep people safe this summer and beyond.

Whether you choose to walk, jog, hop or skip, tackling a mile every day in May will help raise vital funds for RNLI lifesavers, so that they can continue to keep people safe at sea.

To sign up for the Mayday Mile, or to make a donation in support of the RNLI’s lifesavers, visit RNLI.org/supportMayday

Notes to editors

• It cost £1,360 a year to train each crew member in the lifesaving skills they need to answer the call for help
• Across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, RNLI lifeboat crews based out of 238 lifeboat stations helped 8,290 people and saved 272 lives as the charity’s lifeboats launched more than 9,000 times in 2025, making it the sixth-busiest year in the charity’s history. More here
• One of the lives saved at North Berwick was a capsized kayaker which was caught on helmet camera. A full report and video footage are available on the RNLI’s News Centre.

RNLI media contacts

Matthew Gibbons, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer, North Berwick, [email protected]
Richard Smith, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for Scotland, 07826 900639, [email protected]
Martin Macnamara, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for Scotland, 07920 365929, [email protected]
24 hour RNLI Central Press Office, 01202 336789 or email [email protected]

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.