Take part in Lifeboat Saturday
What is Lifeboat Saturday?
The first ever Lifeboat Saturday in 1891 changed the face of fundraising forever. It happened in response to the worst disaster in RNLI history when, on 10 December 1886, 27 lifeboatmen from Southport and St Anne's lifeboat stations lost their lives while attempting to rescue the crew from the German barque Mexico.
This inspired Lifeboat Saturday, the world’s first recorded charity street collection. More than 30,000 people lined the streets of Manchester to watch bands and floats parade through the city, while volunteers collected kind donations in tins and buckets. They raised over £5,000 (that’s over £500,000 today) – a remarkable sum. In the following years, Lifeboat Saturday became an annual event in Manchester and further afield, raising money to help power RNLI volunteer crews to the rescue.
Now we’re drawing in that remarkable story of kindness to write the next chapter of Lifeboat Saturday – raising vital funds to save lives at sea.
Event Planning Essentials
If you’re organising a street collection to echo Lifeboat Saturday in 1891, volunteer recruitment is key, as is the location! Read our handy street collections event checklist for tips on planning your street collection.
Wherever you plan to host your collection – whether that’s on your local high street, at a supermarket, or at your nearest lifeboat station – our event planning essentials will help everything go smoothly. From materials to help promote your collection and recruit volunteers, to guidance on risk assessments, you’ll find all the resources you need for planning a safe, fun and legal event.
Before you get started, please let your branch, volunteer or community manager know what your plans are. They can register it and make sure you get the support you need.
Lifeboat Saturday materials at your fingertips
From recruitment posters to social media assets, we’ve created Lifeboat Saturday branded materials to help you bring your event to life. You’ll find everything to download and print on the Source.
If you need any help, please get in touch with the Volunteer Experience Team.
Make it simple with contactless payments
In an increasingly cashless society, having the option to tap to donate with a contactless payment unit makes it effortless for donors to give generously. For more information, please contact your community manager. Have a look at the resources below to find out how to set up and use contactless payment units at your Lifeboat Saturday event.
Contactless payment unit guide for volunteers – PDFContactless payment FAQ for branches – PDF
Thank you for joining us for Lifeboat Saturday!
We hope you have the guidance and resources you need to plan your Lifeboat Saturday, so that you’re ready to raise funds for our amazing volunteers.