THE RNLI has been selected as Royal Cornwall Show’s charity of the year for 2024.

Visitors will see the RNLI across the three days of the Royal Cornwall Show on its stand, where the charity will be fundraising, spreading awareness of how you can get involved, sharing essential water safety advice and performing water safety demonstrations in the countryside area.

The RNLI will also have a central display in the flower tent and a fun competition for local schools to create a hanging basket flower arrangement in a decommissioned lifeboat helmet and create their own floral welly. 

The charity, which is marking its 200th anniversary in 2024, will also have a range of RNLI200 branded clothing and accessories which will be able to purchase across the three days.

Adrian Carey, RNLI head of region for the south west, said: ”The RNLI is delighted to have been selected as the charity of the year at the 2024 Royal Cornwall Show, especially in our 200th anniversary year.

“The show is an annual highlight for the local community and, like the RNLI, plays an important role in Cornish life.  The RNLI has had, and continues to have, a strong presence in Cornwall, operating 14 lifeboat stations in the county and lifeguarding across 58 beaches in peak season.   

“The show gives us the opportunity to shine a light on the fantastic work our lifesavers do across Cornwall, as well as inspire new people to get involved. We look forward to meeting supporters old and new across the three days.”

Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 the charity has saved 146,452 lives nationwide, which equates to an average of two lives saved per day over 200 years.

RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews have saved a total of 6,478 lives in Cornwall, which is approximately 32 lives a year since 1824. RNLI lifeguards across Cornwall have responded to 128,366 incidents, saving 793 lives, since they became part of the charity’s lifesaving service in 2001.  

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has continued saving lives at sea throughout the tests of its history, including tragic disasters, funding challenges and two World Wars. 

Today, the charity is saving more lives, in more ways, in more places than ever before. It operates 238 lifeboat stations and has seasonal lifeguards on more than 240 lifeguarded beaches around the UK and Ireland.   A RNLI spokesperson said: “Everything the charity has achieved has only been possible thanks to ordinary people doing extraordinary things, from our volunteers who selflessly give their time, to the incredible generosity of our supporters who fund our lifesaving work. “