Local RNLI Collect Record Amount on Lifeboat Saturday

Friday, 23 October 2026 at 05:00

The local branch of RNLI, recently renamed RNLI South Wiltshire to reflect its larger geographical area from Andover in the East to Shaftesbury in the West, raised an incredible £2,650 in its Salisbury City Centre collection on 10th October.

This is one of the branch's largest street collections ever and once again demonstrates the generosity of the people of Salisbury.

The event was part of the nationwide Lifeboat Saturday, which commemorates the first public street collection by any charity, held in Manchester in October 1891.

A spokesman said, “The RNLI has benefited greatly from a huge increase in donations following the difficult scenes in Portsmouth in September.

"People now understand more than ever that the RNLI will always respond to the Coastguard’s requests to save lives at sea, whatever the circumstances of the rescue. We received many expressions of support and thanks from members of the public during the day.”

The Chief Fundraising and Communications Officer of RNLI, Jayne George, attended the event and presented long service medals to three of the branch’s volunteers, Andy Hall, Julie Wilkins and Tony Lunt for 40, 30 and 10 years’ service respectively.

The re-named branch is a merger of the Salisbury, Wilton & District and Stonehenge branches.

The Chair of the enlarged branch, Matthew Sykes, has welcomed the volunteers from Stonehenge and says the enlarged Collection Crew will help the RNLI raise even more donations across South Wiltshire.

The branch is still seeking new volunteers who can give a few hours of their time every few months. Anybody interested should email: RNLISouthWilts@gmail.com.

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