Celebrating Trustees’ Week 2026

The RNLI’s trustees are a body of volunteers who, along with other governance volunteers, form a vital part of the RNLI team and carry financial and legal responsibility for everything the RNLI does.

This Trustees’ Week, we’re shining a light on the vital work done by this important group of volunteers.

What do our trustees do?

Our trustees must ensure that everything done by the RNLI is genuinely and solely in pursuit of its objects: to save lives, promote safety and provide relief from disaster at sea and on inland waters.

RNLI trustees bring a wide range of knowledge, expertise and experience to the organisation and approve our Strategy and Business Plans, Annual Budget and Annual Report and Accounts.

We currently have 13 Trustees, including the Chair and Deputy Chair, who are appointed by our Council at the Annual General Meeting. Trustees are appointed for a three-year term but can serve for up to nine years. As part of their volunteering, they attend Board and Council meetings, the Annual General Meeting and are appointed to Committees of the Board.

What does the RNLI Council do?

The RNLI Council is an advisory group that provides advice and support to the Trustees and Executive Team. We can have up to 50 Council members and will soon be advertising for new members.

Council members are important ambassadors for the RNLI and spend a lot of time in their local and wider communities highlighting the important role our charity plays, sharing our key messages and supporting efforts and initiatives.

Like trustees, council members are also appointed on a three-year term basis and can serve for up to nine years. They are appointed at the Annual General Meeting.

What do our Committee Members do?

To help support the Trustee Board and Executive Team, the RNLI also has a number of Committees. These committees cover a range of areas including finance, investment, safety, operational assurance, audit and people (to name a few!).

Each committee is chaired by a trustee, and members are drawn from the Board, Council and independent member volunteers. Committee members are recruited based on a range of skills and experience; some volunteer elsewhere in the RNLI and for some this is their only volunteering role with us. Committee members are recommended for appointment by the Membership and Remuneration Committee after an open recruitment process.

We have recently finished recruiting for our Ireland Committee and People and Purpose Committee but will shortly be advertising for new members to join the Council and Committees. If you think that you, or someone you know, would be able to help us in either of these areas or would like to apply for a future role, please keep an eye out for the roles being advertised in the coming months.

Meet our trustees

We caught up with just three of the RNLI’s current trustees as part of Trustees’ Week 2026, to find out what volunteering in this important role means to them.

Mark Wordsworth

Mark first joined the RNLI as a volunteer in 2006, when he became a crew member at Alderney Lifeboat Station. After standing down as crew in 2017, Mark became a member of the RNLI Council in 2018, swiftly followed by his appointment as a Trustee in 2021.

Over the past eight years, he has lent his significant experience in strategic financial planning, treasury management and corporate finance to the RNLI by chairing its Investment Committee, as well as being a trustee of the Lifeboat Endowment Fund.

'As a former RNLI volunteer crew member, I am very proud to be able to continue to play a part in helping to ensure that the invaluable, selfless and courageous humanitarian work delivered by the men and women of the RNLI for nearly two centuries will carry on for generations to come.'

Catriona Savage - Committee Member – Safety, Operational Assurance and Risk Committee (SOARC)

Catriona has been volunteering with the RNLI since November 2022, firstly as a member of the Technical Advisory Committee and then since July this year as a member of the Safety, Operational Assurance and Risk Committee (SOARC).

She brings a lifetime of connections to the RNLI to her volunteering, coming from a family of keen sailors and spending time living in the Channel Islands. She also then went on to study Naval Architecture at Southampton University.

‘I jumped at the chance to be a part of supporting an organisation that does such valuable work when I was approached to become a trustee. I am always in awe of the volunteers that risk their lives to save others. I enjoy collaborating with the other committee members who come from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience. Having the opportunity to challenge, discuss and provide support to the RNLI Team gives me personal satisfaction as well as, I hope, bringing value to the organisation.’

Dinesh Visavadia - Council Member and member of the RNLI Pension Trustee Board

Dinesh has been volunteering for the RNLI for close to four years. A keen sailor, he has himself been rescued twice by RNLI crews whilst competing in the Round the Island Race.

As well as being a Council Member, Dinesh also serves on the RNLI pension trustee board, bringing with him 40 years of experience in pensions and investments to the management of the RNLI pension scheme. This year he has also expanded his volunteering to become Water Safety Officer at Tower Lifeboat Station.

‘Being a Council Member is very helpful to my role as a pension trustee, giving me deep insight into how the RNLI operates and the challenges it faces. My new role as Water Safety Officer has allowed me to learn more about people at grassroots level, to get an understanding of how they are feeling and how they remain motivated about the work they do. I’ve also had opportunity to develop relations with parts of the communities who don’t naturally associate with the RNLI but do love swimming and beach holidays. It has given me so much satisfaction to have these joined-up roles which allow me to feedback on many aspects of the RNLI’s work.'