Plymouth RNLI raises awareness at Tesco Community Day

Dave Lister, volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager (LOM) for Plymouth, and Brian Dickson, volunteer Station Treasurer, were on hand giving out leaflets and raising awareness of Plymouth RNLI.

Dave said: ‘We have plenty of people willing to volunteer for the lifeboat crew which is fantastic, but we really need more fundraising volunteers too. The RNLI is a charity and relies on donations so that we can continue to save lives at sea.

‘Today we’ve been raising awareness of how people can get involved in fundraising. We have these little ‘5p pots’ which people can take home and fill up with 5ps. Once it’s full, they can be taken to any donation buckets and the pot can then be taken home to be refilled. Each pot holds about £2, which adds up to a lot of money fundraised.’

He continued: ‘We have also been promoting RNLI lifeguards and people have noticed them on the beaches which is great, as we always advise to swim at a lifeguarded beach, in between the red and yellow flags.’ 

Bill Pilbeam, Manager at Tesco Transit Way, said: ‘A lot of people don’t realise that the RNLI is a charity, and not a service like the police, fire and ambulance. The RNLI is our chosen charity that we support locally, alongside the charities Tesco supports nationwide, and the money raised from today will be split between them all.’

Notes to editors
Picture attached: RNLI volunteers Dave Lister (left) and Brian Dickson (right) man the RNLI stand at Tesco Transit Way. Credit RNLI

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Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity 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 146,000 lives.

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