Events Calendar

March to Dec

The Old Lifeboat Museum.

The Old lifeboat station and gift shop will be open at Easter from 10am to 4.30pm (ish) subject to willing volunteers and favourable weather!

8 August 2009

POOLE LIFEBOAT OPEN DAY

Each year the station opens its doors to give the public a chance to look around one of the RNLI’s busiest coastal stations.

29 May 2010

A celebration to commemorate the Poole lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright which served Poole from 1938-1962 and was also one of the "Dunkirk little ships" that went to Normandy 70 years ago. You can view Thomas Kirk Wright at the Lifeboat museum, the pink building at the east end of the quay.

15 May 2010

Three of Poole’s inshore lifeboat crew are set to row a 32ft (9.75m) Cornish gig from Land’s End to Poole dressed as pirates. Helmsman John Vine and Crew Members Mike Fearn and Mark Ponchaud will take to the water in the pirate boat Arrypaye on Saturday 15 May as part of the Pirates of Poole team who will row a staggering 260 miles to Poole Quay. They will complete the 2–week row in full fancy dress, collecting treasure (money) along the way for the RNLI and four other charities – Macmillan Cancer Support, Wessex Heart Beat, Headway, and The Royal Marines Charitable Trust. Crew Member Ray Murphy will also row two legs from Mevagissey to Plymouth.

Check out the progress of Poole crew members on Arrypaye on http://www.piratesofpoole.com/blog_for_the_pirates.html

8 May 2010

A wet May day saw one of Poole Lifeboat Station’s eligible bachelors removed from the ‘availability’ list. Crew Member Pete Smith wed his sweetheart Kayleigh at St James’s Church in Poole on Saturday 8 May.
Although the sun didn’t shine, there were smiles all round after their wedding ceremony as the bride and groom left the church through the traditional arched oars held aloft by fellow crew. Fortunately the pagers stayed quiet as most of the crew attended the ceremony.

29 January 2010

SOS day is the RNLI’s biggest fundraising day of the year and it’s a great way to get 2010 off to a cracking start, while helping to save lives at sea. Anyone can take part, anywhere and anyhow! See what you can do to join in and do something to support the RNLI this SOS day. http://www.rnli.org.uk/sosday/home

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.

25 January 2010

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

Bowplex Tower Park 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.

01 January 2010

Blue Boar Raft Race. The annual race of home made rafts from the Dolphin Haven along the Quay is held on the morning of the 1st January. Entry forms and the rules can be obtained from the Blue Boar.

4 December

Recently on Poole Quay Poole lifeboat crew took the cup for the best "working boat " in the flotilla of light procession on Poole Quay.
"Rookie" the reindeer made lots of new friends and a lot of fun was had by all.

29 November

RNLI Reindeer Run at Moors Valley Country Park (near to Verwood).

A 5k and 10k route - the former starting after the 10k runners have finished. It usually starts at 10am and many runners wear something festive. The finisher's then have a glass of mulled wine and a mincepie. A good start to the festive season!

22 November

Jazz at Sandbanks Hotel

15 November

Santa Arrives at Poole Harbour

18 October

During the early hours of Sunday 18 Oct Poole RNLI lifeboat station was broken into and ransacked by thieves. Volunteers arrived at the station on Poole Quay on Monday morning to find the place in “total chaos” the doors had been smashed open with, locked drawer’s wrenched open and the contents discarded over the floor. Coxswain Jonathan Clark said: “It sickens you to see the mess. Someone has totally wrecked our station looking for a safe or something. There is no money on the site and nothing of value, just essential equipment that we use to do our job. It’s just mindless.” Read more on the story

Anyone with information can call PC Aaron Harvey on 01202 22 222.

3 September

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

20-24 August 2009

Poole lifeboats took to the busy waters out in Poole bay today with the world and his wife who were out in all sorts of craft to get a good view of the air show in full swing. Deputy Coxswain Dave Riley said “With the amount of traffic out there it was inevitable that something was going to happen” and so it did.

Both lifeboats responded to a report of a boat on fire being towed back by another pleasure craft. The Inshore lifeboat arrived on scene to find the vessels at the entrance of the harbour. The crew immediately evacuated the vessel that had 6 people on board. A volunteer crewman jumped onboard the boat to check it out. The crew had used a fire extinguisher to put the initial fire out. An electrical fire had occurred inside a compartment behind the fuel tank. The compartment area still felt extremely hot so the crewman threw buckets of water on the area to cool it down. The Lifeboats then towed the stricken vessel to the Royal Motors Yacht club where the fire brigade was standing by. The fire brigade checked the boat out with their thermal imaging equipment until they were happy that the boat was no longer at risk and had cooled down sufficiently.

The Inshore lifeboat was then tasked to a boat aground on the notorious Hooks Sands just outside the harbour entrance. The boat with one person onboard was high and dry on the shifting sand bank. The inshore volunteer lifeboat crew checked that the person onboard was okay and that he was happy to sit it out till the tide came back in a couple of hours time when he could float off in his own time. He was happy to stay there and watch the planes.

Meanwhile, the all weather lifeboat was tasked by Portland coastguard to assist a wind surfer who was in difficulty at the harbour entrance. The Wind surfer had got into trouble but had been helped by the harbour launch when the lifeboats arrived on scene. The lifeboats were then tasked onto a broken down speedboat. When the lifeboat arrive on scene the speedboat had managed to restart and was happy to continue on its way. Both Lifeboats were then asked to help a 22ft powerboat with 3 people on board that had suffered a overheated engine. A tow was attached and the boat was brought back to the safety of the Dolphin Quay marina.

The Lifeboats got back to the station after another busy afternoon. Volunteer crewman Gavin McGuinness said “There was so many boats out there today, we were out all afternoon, to pre-empt anything major, lets hope its quieter day tomorrow.”

Since Thursday the lifeboats have helped out with almost 20 incidents.

20 August 2009

The annual Bournemouth air festival, held over 4 days over the sea off Bournemouth beach, always proves a challenge for Dorset RNLI lifeguards and lifeboat crews, as hundreds of thousands of visitors saturate the beaches and waterways. For 2009, the Thursday night proved even more spectacular as an attempt was made to break the world record for the most fireworks set off simultaneously from a huge barge moored half a mile offshore.

Shortly after 9:30pm, 112,000 rockets were fired in one go from the barge, sending a cloud of spark, flame and debris over 100m into the night sky, dwarfing the barge and the towing tug, before promptly catching fire.

Read more on the story and see photos from Rob Inett, RNLI Poole lifeboat

2 August 2009

POOLE LIFEBOAT OPEN DAY

Each year the station opens its doors to give the public a chance to look around one of the RNLI’s busiest coastal stations.

4 July 2009

Hamworthy park summer Fete

7 June 2009

Motor bikers from the Bath classic motorcycle club roared into Poole on their annual lifeboat run on 7 June. The club holds an annual lifeboat run to different stations around the South West region and this year it was Poole’s turn. Despite the typical lifeboat weather, 60 motorcyclists revved into the station. All sorts of bikes were on display – vintage, classic, and not so new – all parked alongside the station. A cheque for £500 was presented to the lifeboat station. Read more about the visit

6 June 2009

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.

4 June 2009

4 Mar 2009

1 Mar 2009

14 Feb 2009

Slurp or Sip and Sample our Snacks at Poole Lifeboat Station.

A Valentines day coffee morning was held at the Lifeboat Station to raise funds and do our bit for SOS so… Thank you to all those who came along and supported us on the day.

30 January 2009

SOS day – the RNLI’s biggest fundraising day.

The RNLI held its biggest fund raising event to help the RNLI's volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards save lives at sea. A series of sponsorship events took place on the theme of SOS such as Sample Our Snacks and Sponsor Our Sports.

Check out rnli.org.uk/sosday/events/southwest for more events in the local area.

27 Jan 09

01 January 2009

31 December

25 December

12 Days Leading up to Christmas and New Year

1. A mother-and-baby water babies group did a sponsored swim for the lifeboat station
2. Father Christmas arrived in Poole onboard Poole lifeboat
3. The annual jazz at the Sandbanks hotel was a jazzy do
4. Santa’s reindeer ran at Moors valley Country Park in aid of the RNLI
5. The floating boathouse arrived back at Poole lifeboat station after a refit and modifications
6. Poole’s new Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Sgt Bob Martin arrived at the station
7. Both lifeboats took part in the Flotilla of lights at Poole Quay
8. The new lifeboat had its first shout to a yacht aground on the Training Bank and had a celebratory drink and cake afterwards
9. The crew said goodbye to their faithful Atlantic 75 Friendly Forester II
10. The station float was highly commended in the Broadstone Christmas Carnival Parade
11. Poole lifeboat station held their children’s Christmas party at the station
12. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year from all at Poole lifeboat station

4 December

30 November

RNLI Reindeer Run at Moors Valley Country Park (near to Verwood).

A 5k and 10k route - the former starting after the 10k runners have finished. It usually starts at 10am and many runners wear something festive. The finisher's then have a glass of mulled wine and a mincepie. A good start to the festive season!

November 23rd

November 16th

6th September

17 August

17 August

POOLE LIFEBOAT OPEN DAY

Each year the station opens its doors to give the public a chance to look around one of the RNLI’s busiest coastal stations.

3 July 2008

The Tyne Project

Christian Kosial is a regular visitor to the Station and plans to be at the station open day this year. He is currently working on the model of the Poole lifeboat City of Sheffield and has just started painting the hull.

2 July 2008

Hero Worship

Hero is a deceptive word. It evokes images of Lycra-clad, muscle-bound men flying through the sky to save damsels in distress with their super-human strength. But what about the heroes that walk among us, the heroes who push themselves to the limit without so much as a theme tune to drown out the sound of the wind and rain?

1 July 2008

Poole and District branch trip overseas to the Inshore Lifeboat Centre.

The morning of 1 July saw nine intrepid travellers set off on one of the most expensive journeys in the world in a luxury coach with chauffeur to view the construction of the most modern lifeboat to enter the RNLI fleet.

Okay, now I’ve grabbed your attention......

16 June 2008

12 May 2008

2 May 2008

Pete Goss and Liam McKenna teamed up with Talisker Single Malt Scotch whisky to raise money for the RNLI.

Pete, a West Countryman and former Royal Marine, is perhaps best known for his heroic rescue in horrendous conditions of a fellow competitor in the 1996/7 Vendée Globe round the world yacht race. Liam is one of Poole lifeboat station’s deputy launching authorities (DLAs) and has also played an active part with the RNLI’s Flood rescue team.

28 March 2008

The Tyne Project

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

06 March 2008

On 6 March 2008, our B class Atlantic lifeboat, B-710 Friendly Forester II, came back to the station, 4 months after she left for her 3-yearly refit.
The relief boat B-769 Coventry and Warwickshire was then returned to Weston-super-Mare lifeboat station. During her time at Poole lifeboat station she was involved in 18 lifeboat services and took part in 18 exercises.

14 February 2008

DORSET TEAM CATCH NATIONAL POLICE TROPHIES AND SUPPORT THE RNLI.

Four sea anglers representing Dorset Police in the recent Police Sport UK national sea angling boat championships caught the eye when they won both the team and individual trophies – and landed a prize catch of over £4,000 for the RNLI. Read more about the story here

07 February 2008

A (re) fitting start to the year!

The City of Sheffield left the station on 22 January 2008 for its 3-yearly refit. Crew members from Poole and Weymouth took the boat on passage from Poole via Eastbourne and Ramsgate to Goodchilds Boatyard in Great Yarmouth. They also took in the sights and dodged the floating wood piles from the cargo vessel Ice Prince that sank off Portland Bill on 15 January.

The station now has the relief Tyne class lifeboat 47-012 (ON-1115) Good Shepherd for the next 3 months. She was previously a relief boat at Shoreham Harbour lifeboat station. You can find out more about our lifeboats here

21 January 2008

01 January 2008