Forum at Hunstanton RNLI brings together volunteers from four counties
RNLI volunteers from across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire attended a special forum at a busy lifeboat station.
More than 35 delegates from Cromer, Skegness and Wells lifeboat stations, along with members of inland fundraising teams from Boston, Charnwood, Dereham and Peterborough attended the event at Hunstanton RNLI on 17 March.
The day included best practice sessions for fundraising, station visits, water safety and shop volunteers, who play a vital role in supporting the work of the charity that saves lives at sea, which operates 238 lifeboat stations around the coast of the UK and Ireland.
Attendees also browsed stalls with information about helping those who wished to remember the RNLI in their wills, promoting water safety, volunteering for the charity and the work of its lifeguard teams who patrol almost 250 beaches in the UK and Channel Islands.
And while it might still have been 283 days until Christmas, the event concluded with a festive fundraising presentation by Nikki Wrench, the RNLI's senior community manager for the north and east.
Organiser Emma Cunnington, the RNLI's community manager for north Norfolk, Lincolnshire and inland, said: 'We try to bring volunteers from different stations and fund raising teams together to give them the opportunity to share best fundraising practice.
'We also have RNLI staff here who our volunteers may have spoken to on the phone or via e-mail but not had the opportunity to meet in person.
'It's also an opportunity for people to meet each other, to socialise and strengthen relationships.'
Hunstanton's lifeboat operations manager Mike Gould said: 'I don't think many people realise the extent of the team that it takes to launch a lifeboat at Hunstanton and at other stations like us.
'They might think it's just a few people on a boat and a tractor driver, when realistically the support starts with the volunteers in our visits and shop teams, our guild who raise funds and our education team.
'It's so humbling to see the efforts of all the volunteers that offer their own time, all for one purpose to save lives at sea.
'And it's always an honour for us when we can open our boathouse to welcome the wider team from across the region.'
Kate Craven, the station's visits and water safety lead, added: 'Each station has its own people and its own stories to tell. At Hunstanton alone in 2025 we had 23,000 visitors come in to talk to our boathouse volunteers, 26 schools bringing 1,500 children who all went away with key water safety messages.
'It's good to be reminded of just how big our organisation is, how vital the life saving work is, how important the fund raising is and how every penny spent in our shops continues to fund the work of stations like ours, where every volunteer plays their part.'
The conference was the second regional event hosted by the station in recent months, following a successful Women in SAR (search and rescue) convention at Hunstanton in October, which saw women taking to sea on board the station's lifeboat and hovercraft for demanding training exercises, along with drills on-shore.
Notes to editors
Volunteers at Hunstanton RNLI operate both the inshore lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk
and the search and rescue hovercraft Hunstanton Flyer from their base on Sea Lane.
They cover The Wash, a coastal estuary of more than 200 square miles fed by four main rivers along with parts of the North Norfolk coast.
Crew members at the busy station are on call 24/7, 365 days a year; while their work is supported by its visits, shop and outreach teams, along with the Hunstanton and West Norfolk RNLI Lifeboat Guild which raises funds for the charity that saves lives at sea.
RNLI media contacts
For more information call Chris Bishop, Hunstanton RNLI volunteer Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07584 147219, Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager, North and East on 07824 518641, or the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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.
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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.