It’s that time of year again! And sadly, with Covid still with us we haven’t been able to get out and about in person to volunteer this year, but we are doing the next best thing for charities who desperately need our support and that is to donate money! The charity I have chosen this time around is a new one for me and one I just started supporting this year. The RNLI – Royal National Lifeboat Institution was a charity my grandpa supported back when I was a little one, as he had a boat proudly flying the RNLI flag and helped to raise money for them. I however had never really taken an interest in this charity, focusing on other causes close to my heart, like the British Heart Foundation, Blood Cancer, Cancer Research and NSPCC etc.

I don’t live by the sea, but we often holiday down in Cornwall and Devon and have visited the lifeboat station down near Padstow. So, when I stumbled across the recent BBC2 series Saving Lives at Sea I have to say it made a real impact. The series follows lifeboat crews saving people in all manner of trouble, from Paddleboarders swept out to sea, to people who have fallen hundreds of meters off a cliff edge! It’s a hugely pressurized job and one which sees these crews risk their lives for complete strangers (in some; but not all; cases strangers who should have known better).

‘So what?’ you may say, firemen, ambulance crews and many other first responders risk their lives on a daily basis. The difference is these guys are all volunteers. They don’t get paid, they simply do it because they want to save lives and keep people safe. Often generation after generation join their town lifeboat crew and it is seen as quite normal. But it really isn’t, it is incredible. At any moment, these brave volunteers could be called out to risk their lives in what are often treacherous conditions, no matter if they are at a friend’s wedding or out with family, when they call comes, they have to shift sharpish! So, this year I’ve nominated RNLI as my chosen charity to help support lifeboat crews up and down the country who do something I would be scared silly to do. To find out more about the RNLI visit rnli.org and if you’re looking for stocking fillers they have some fab merch here.