This year sees the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) celebrating two hundred years of lifesaving thanks to the passion of one man who wanted change. Sir William Hillary lived in Douglas on the Isle of Man and, over the years, had helped save lives from many shipwrecks in the local area at a time when there were an average of 1,800 ships wrecked around the UK coastline. Shipwrecks had become an accepted danger of working at sea and Hillary didn’t think that was right. On 28th February 1823, he made a call to form a national institution to save lives at sea. You can hear his full appeal on the RNLI’s website here:
https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/timeline/1824-our-foundation
Although this initial call to the Admiralty didn’t gain the help required, a change of approach to appeal to the philanthropists of London Society did work and, on 4th March 1824, the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck was formed, later gaining a Royal prefix. It was in 1854 – the year that the crew were given lifejackets (made from cork) for the first time ever – that the name was changed to the one the charity still has now.
In its 200-year history, the RNLI has saved more than 144,000 lives at sea thanks to the amazing work of its staff and volunteers, and the generosity of supporters.
The amazing work of the RNLI is a key part of The Starfish Café series. Like Sir William Hillary, I live by the coast. While I thankfully have never seen a shipwreck, I’m very aware of the danger of the sea and tragic lives lost on this stretch of coast. Whenever there are spring tides (particularly high tides) with lots of overtopping (where the waves come over the seawall), social media is full of pictures of people ‘playing’ with the sea, dodging waves. It might seem like great fun having waves splashing over you but it’s incredibly dangerous. The sea is so powerful that it can easily sweep a person off their feet and put their life at risk and those of others as they attempt to rescue them. The waves also frequently carry debris such as stones which could cause serious injury or even a fatality if striking someone on the head.
As soon as I started writing a book featuring the RNLI, I knew I would take the opportunity to highlight dangers such as these alongside the work the lifeboat crew do, often in really challenging conditions, to rescue anyone in difficulties.
The biggest thing that struck me doing my research was that most of the crew are volunteers. The RNLI use the strapline “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” and this is absolutely the case. These people have families, friends and day jobs, but they put themselves at risk to save others. I’m in awe of what they do and it has been an honour to spend time with the crew at Scarborough Lifeboat Station, finding out more about what they do and even observing a training session.
In Sir William Hillary’s call to the public, he used the words “with courage, nothing is impossible”. I use that at the front of each book in the series and it forms a key focus for my characters across the series. I’m delighted that The Starfish Café series has captured the hearts of readers and I was able to make Scarborough Lifeboat Station my charity last year. For the year following the release of the final book in the series – Summer Nights at The Starfish Café – Boldwood Books have been proud to support the RNLI, pledging a donation to the RNLI in 2023/24 as part of their support for the work they do saving lives at sea. I wonder if Hillary had any idea that his vision would still be making an incredible impact 200 years down the line. For the complete timeline, visit RNLI’s 200 years feature here:
https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/timeline
You can find out more about how you can support this amazing charity, whether as a volunteer, a fundraiser, a member, or a donator here:
Big hugs
Jessica xx