Welcome to Poole lifeboat station's website

RNLI statistics released today show that Poole Lifeboat Station was the busiest coastal station in the UK and RoI with a total of 200 ‘shouts’, the highest number of launches for the station since 1995. The volunteer crews rescued 242 people of whom 26 were under the age of 18 years of age.

Read more...

We are a charity. If you wish to support and sustain us at Poole Lifeboat station You can donate online at http://www.justgiving.com/Poolelifeboat all money donated will got to fund volunteer crew training costs, help replenish equipment and will go to keeping the Poole Lifeboats afloat, ready to Save lives at Sea.

Strike Or Spare – a bowling extravaganza, raising funds to save lives at sea.

Bowplex Tower Park recently supported Poole RNLI Lifeboat Station for SOS Day 2010 by hosting a special charity bowling evening at Bowlplex Tower Park. This is the second year RNLI volunteers have worked with the national leisure operator, raising over £1,700 for SOS Day in 2009.

For all media enquiries, please contact:
Frances D’Ardenne, Brand and Public Relations Manager
Tel: 01202 638214 Email: frances@bowlplex.co.uk

Poole Lifeboat Station is asking people to support the RNLI and its lifesaving work by joining in with the RNLI’s biggest fundraising day, SOS Day, on Friday 29 January and it’s not to late to join in the fun.

Volunteer Coxswain Jonathan Clark said: ‘I have been a volunteer for over 27 years and I can only do what I do with the support of the local community, my employer and family.’ He added: ‘SOS Day is a great opportunity for people to have fun and in turn help us to keep our boats afloat.’

Traditionally, supporters have organised fundraising events taking inspiration from the SOS acronym. Previous events have included Scoff our Scones, Sample our Sausages, Shiraz or Sauvignon, SOS quizzes and Strolls on Sunday, themed dress-down days at school or college like Spots Or Stripes but people can do anything they want to raise cash.

You can log onto www.rnli.org.uk/sos for inspiration and to see what’s going on in the area.
At school, work, down the pub, with your friends and family, help us to save lives at sea and if it’s too cold to get out and about why not Shell Out Silver and donate whatever you can on the Poole Lifeboat Station justgiving page at http://www.justgiving.com/Poolelifeboat.

Poole lifeboat crew joined in the fun at the annual New Years day Blue Boar Bath tub race in Poole Quay.

Over 20 “bathtubs” took to the water on a very cold, bright bracing day. The race has been held regularly for many years and is a certain cure for any hangovers.

The vessels course is from Fish shambles steps along down the quay to the Custom House steps. The vessels have to be constructed with a bathtub and propelled by single ended paddles. Read more...

Nearly 125 years ago, James Hughes, a crew member at Poole lifeboat station, tragically died when he fell under the launching carriage during a lifeboat exercise on 9 October 1884. James is one of over 85 in the RNLI’s South division and one of a total of 778 people commemorated on the new RNLI memorial from all corners of the UK and RoI. RNLI lifeboat crews and supporters observed a minute’s silence at 12.20pm on Thursday 3 September when the new memorial was unveiled. The silence was a sign of respect and gratitude to the many people connected with the charity who have lost their lives helping to save others at sea. Read more on the story

Saturday 6 June was a big day for all those associated with Poole lifeboat station with the naming ceremony and dedication of the new B class Atlantic 85 lifeboat.

The Atlantic was named after Sgt Bob Martin, who was ex-Durham light Infantry and long-term supporter of the RNLI at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.

read more about the ceremony and view pictures from the day.

You can read more about the boat here and about the boats construction in this story of the Poole and District branches visit to the Inshore Lifeboat Centre.

Poole lifeboat station has an active sea safety team headed up by Lifeboat Sea Safety Officer Chris Holloway. Part of their brief is to carry out SEA Checks and talks on sea safety to individuals and clubs, providing advice on man overboard techniques, lifejackets, flares and many other safety topics.

If you are a boat owner and would like a SEA Check with a free independent check of safety equipment, an opportunity to discuss safety matters, your copy of the check form (which may attract further benefits) along with the benefit of knowing you are helping the RNLI in its core activity of saving lives at sea, then please contact Chris Holloway on 077 1286 8115.

Remember these RNLI safety tips every time you venture out on the water:

• check your engine and fuel
• tell others where you are going
• carry some means of calling for help
• keep an eye on weather and tides.

Further information and advice on all aspects of sea safety can be obtained by calling the RNLI on 0800 328 0600, emailing seasafety@rnli.org.uk, or visiting the website at rnli.org.uk/seasafety.

Understanding the Weather is one of the most important aspects of going out on the Sea, be well prepared and use the wealth of resources available on the Internet to help plan your trip.

Here's just a couple of useful links with weather information:-

The Met Office

RealTime Weather in Poole Harbour

To ensure boat owners don't make an unscheduled appearance in our "Shouts" section Coxswain Jonathan Clark would like to remind them of a few simple checks before putting to sea Read More.

Here at the station we get tons of requests from journalist students to come out on an exercise and experience what it is like to be a crew member on one of the busiest lifeboats. Unfortunately we cannot say yes to everyone but we did say yes to Alana Lewis. Alana joined the crew on an exercise one Saturday morning with typical wet, wild lifeboat weather but she lived to tell the tale! Read her story here.

We have another update from Christian on his progress building a model of our Tyne class lifeboat. You'll see from the recent photographs and prior updates that an incredible amount of time goes into recreating the City of Sheffield with such detail and accuracy.

Poole lifeboat station recently featured in the Spring 2008 edition of the Lifeboat, the RNLI’s quarterly magazine for its members. Read the article or you can download a pdf version page 1, page 2.

Check out the main RNLI website at rnli.org.uk for more details of membership.

Read about some of the colourful characters that make up the crew here at Poole Lifeboat Station. Visit the crew pages by clicking the link above or by using the navigation bar at the top of the page.

The RNLI are encouraging the public to show their support by downloading a new virtual ‘lifeboat launch alerter’ from www.rnli.org.uk/pager.

People can become ‘virtual crew members’ from the comfort of their own homes or workplace by logging on and registering their details to receive a free ‘pager’ that displays on their computer desktop when a lifeboat is launched. Follow this link for details

We have a new selection of postcards on sale at 35p each, printed by the RNLI print room so all proceeds go to fund our station. Email us at ‘Contact us’ if you wish to buy any.
Poole lifeboat pin badges, sweatshirts and polo shirts are also available.

If anyone is interested in volunteering either for the crew or for any other aspect , click on the picture above for details.