As well as celebrating 150 years of service in 2025, Swanage RNLI Lifeboat station is also honoured to have been selected as the Launch a Memory boat for the RNLI’s annual fundraising campaign.
Launch a Memory provides supporters with a chance to add the name of a loved one to one of the RNLI lifeboats, in exchange for a donation. (The current suggested donation is £75, although supporters are free to donate as much or as little as they would like to give.) By the end of the campaign, up to 15,000 names will be added to the decals on the George Thomas Lacy, filling the lettering and numbering on the lifeboat.
Dave Turnbull, volunteer Coxswain at Swanage RNLI, said: ‘We are honoured that Swanage has been chosen as the home of the RNLI’s latest Launch a Memory lifeboat. Our Shannon-class lifeboat has kept people safe in the waters off Swanage for almost a decade now, and knowing that in the future, she will carry the names of thousands of people’s loved ones, makes it even more special.’
‘To become a Launch a Memory lifeboat station in our 150th year is just phenomenal, the real icing on the cake to what is already a very significant year for us. It’s a wonderful way for people to remember and celebrate their loved ones and support the RNLI’s lifesaving work at the same time.’
Names will be added to the lifeboat in 2026, once the campaign is closed, and supporters will be kept updated by the Launch a Memory team.
Anyone interested should visit rnli.org/launchamemory for more information.
