THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION

Charity number: 209603
Charity reporting is up to date (on time)

Charity overview

Activities - how the charity spends its money

To save lives, promote safety and rescue service efficiency, and provide relief from disaster at sea and on inland and flood waters; to advance the education of the public in matters relating to sea, inland and flood water safety, and in the history and heritage of the Institution; to relieve/assist those who have been involved in saving lives at sea and on inland and flood waters in any capacity.

Income and expenditure

Data for financial year ending 31 December 2023

Total income:
£249,600,000

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Donations and legacies £222.60m
Charitable activities £4.90m
Other trading activities £16.30m
Investments £4.60m
Other £1.20m

Total expenditure:
£242,600,000

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Raising funds £57.00m
Charitable activities £185.60m
Other £0

£12,200,000 investments gains (losses)

Total income includes £4,711,245 from 38 government contract(s) and £158,222 from 3 government grant(s)

Charitable expenditure

Charitable expenditure

Some charities generate all, or a substantial part, of their income from investments which may have been donated to the charity as endowment or set aside by the charity from its own resources in the past. Such investments usually take the form of stocks and shares but may include other assets, such as property, that are capable of generating income and/or capital growth.

In managing their spending and investments charities need to strike a balance between the needs of future and current beneficiaries. They also need to take account of spending commitments that may stretch over a number of future years. To do this, charities will normally adopt an investment strategy designed to generate both income and capital growth. To maximise returns trustees may commit to investment strategies for several years.

Investments can experience large swings in value so trustees may, in a particular year, decide to realise and spend part of their charity’s capital or to invest part of its income.

By clicking the investment gains checkbox the charitable spending bar is adjusted to take account of capital growth as well as income. This shows the balance the charity is striking, between spending on current beneficiaries and retaining resources for future beneficiaries.

Text alternative for this canvas graphic is in the data table below.
Raising funds and other expenditure £57.00m
Charitable expenditure £185.60m
Retained for future use £7.00m

People

2445 Employee(s)

13 Trustee(s)

23252 Volunteer(s)

Employees with total benefits over £60,000

Number of employees
£60k to £70k 81
£70k to £80k 24
£80k to £90k 27
£90k to £100k 9
£100k to £110k 5
£110k to £120k 4
£120k to £130k 2
£150k to £200k 2

Fundraising

No information available

Trading

This charity has one or more trading subsidiaries.

Trustee payments

No trustees receive any remuneration, payments or benefits from the charity.

What, who, how, where

What the charity does:
  • General Charitable Purposes
  • Education/training
  • The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
  • Arts/culture/heritage/science
Who the charity helps:
  • The General Public/mankind
How the charity helps:
  • Makes Grants To Individuals
  • Makes Grants To Organisations
  • Provides Human Resources
  • Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space
  • Provides Services
  • Provides Advocacy/advice/information
  • Sponsors Or Undertakes Research
Where the charity operates:
  • Throughout England And Wales
  • Bangladesh
  • Guernsey
  • Ireland
  • Isle Of Man
  • Jersey
  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Tanzania

Governance

Registration history:
  • 28 January 1963: Standard registration
  • 30 July 1997: Removed (Funds spent up (s.75))
Organisation type:
Other
Other names:
  • LIFEBOATS (Working name)
  • RNLI (Working name)
  • ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK (Previous name)
  • ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK (Previous name)
Company number:
RC000503 Open in new window
Gift aid:
Recognised by HMRC for gift aid
Other regulators:
No information available
Policies:
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investing charity funds policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Land and property:
This charity owns and/or leases land or property

Trustees

Trustees are the people responsible for controlling the work, management and administration of the charity on behalf of its beneficiaries. Generally trustees are treasurer, chair, board member etc. The trustees are responsible for keeping this list up to date and can do this by updating their details as they happen through the online service

13 Trustee(s)

Name Role Date of appointment Other trusteeships Reporting status of other trusteeships
Janet Legrand Chair 26 January 2023
ADVANCE HE
Received: On time
RNLI LIFESAVING ENDOWMENT
Received: On time
Commodore Andrew Jordan Trustee 07 July 2023
NMRN HARTLEPOOL
Received: On time
Roger Fairhead Trustee 07 July 2023
None on record
Jamshaid Islam Trustee 22 July 2022
RNLI LIFESAVING ENDOWMENT
Received: On time
Mark Sedwill Trustee 22 July 2022
None on record
Mark Gregory Wordsworth Trustee 15 April 2021
RNLI LIFESAVING ENDOWMENT
Received: On time
Dr John James Killeen Trustee 05 November 2020
None on record
Fiona Catherine Fell Trustee 05 November 2020
None on record
Paddy McLaughlin Trustee 05 November 2020
None on record
Denis Woulfe OBE Trustee 17 July 2019
None on record
Dr Philip Goodwin Trustee 19 July 2018
None on record
Mike Sturrock Trustee 16 November 2016
None on record
Sonia Modray Trustee 25 November 2015
None on record

Financial history

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Financial period end date

Income / Expenditure 31/12/2019 31/12/2020 31/12/2021 31/12/2022 31/12/2023
Total gross income £197.21m £199.17m £219.91m £231.80m £249.60m
Total expenditure £197.80m £172.55m £199.80m £233.00m £242.60m
Income from government contracts £3.38m £2.39m £3.35m £3.47m £4.71m
Income from government grants N/A £5.88m £385.20k £286.91k £158.22k
Income - Donations and legacies £178.94m £178.71m £197.78m £207.30m £222.60m
Income - Other trading activities £11.48m £8.26m £13.94m £16.30m £16.30m
Income - Charitable activities £3.94m £2.63m £4.20m £4.40m £4.90m
Income - Endowments £0 £328.00k £0 £0 £0
Income - Investment £2.18m £1.60m £1.27m £3.30m £4.60m
Income - Other £672.00k £7.98m £2.73m £500.00k £1.20m
Income - Legacies £126.54m £131.58m £137.60m £140.76m £156.90m
Expenditure - Charitable activities £165.52m £143.61m £157.79m £177.20m £185.60m
Expenditure - Raising funds £32.28m £28.94m £42.01m £55.80m £57.00m
Expenditure - Governance £469.00k £419.00k £499.78k £551.00k £500.00k
Expenditure - Grants institution £1.13m £879.00k £591.00k £996.00k £0
Expenditure - Investment management £493.00k £493.00k £564.00k £313.00k £200.00k
Expenditure - Other £0 £0 £0 £0 £0

Assets and liabilities

Definitions for assets and liabilities
Own use assets

These are assets, other than investments, which are held for more than 12 months and used to run and administer the charity such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings.

Long term Investments

Investments are assets held by the charity with the sole aim of generating income which will be used for their charitable purposes such as deposit accounts, shares, rental property and unit trusts.
Investment assets are re-valued every year and included in the balance sheet at their current market value.
Long term investments are held for more than 12 months.

Other assets

These are assets held generally for less than 12 months such as cash and bank balances, debtors, investments to be sold within the coming year and trading stock.

Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability

This is a surplus or deficit in any defined benefit pension scheme operated and represents a potential long-term asset or liability.

Total liabilities

These are all the amounts owed by the charity at the balance sheet date to third parties such as bills due but not yet paid, bank overdrafts and loans and mortgages.

" role="img"> Text alternative for this canvas graphic is in the data table below.
Asset / Liability 31/12/2019 31/12/2020 31/12/2021 31/12/2022 31/12/2023
Own use assets £475.70m £468.00m £466.00m £475.40m £481.40m
Long-term investments £244.60m £268.60m £307.70m £270.80m £256.30m
Other assets £72.30m £84.10m £83.00m £78.30m £94.10m
Defined benefit pension scheme asset or liability -£34.10m -£40.80m -£34.40m -£23.30m -£13.80m
Total liabilities £24.70m £22.50m £24.10m £25.90m £21.70m

Accounts and annual returns

This table shows the charity's record of submitting annual returns, accounts and trustees' annual report (TAR) for the last five financial periods.
Title Reporting year Date received Received Download
Annual return 31 December 2023 31 October 2024 On Time
Accounts and TAR 31 December 2023 29 October 2024 On Time Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 December 2022 16 October 2023 On Time
Accounts and TAR 31 December 2022 16 October 2023 On Time Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 December 2021 29 July 2022 On Time
Accounts and TAR 31 December 2021 29 July 2022 On Time Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 December 2020 10 September 2021 On Time
Accounts and TAR 31 December 2020 10 September 2021 On Time Download Open in new window
Annual return 31 December 2019 16 October 2020 On Time
Accounts and TAR 31 December 2019 16 October 2020 On Time Download Open in new window
Submit annual return Open in new window

Governing document

Details of the type of governing document the charity has and when it was established.
It is not the full text of the charity's governing document.

ROYAL CHARTER GRANTED 24/04/1860 AS AMENDED BY SUPPLEMENTAL CHARTER DATED 02/05/1932 AS AMENDED BY SUPPLEMENTAL CHARTER DATED 24/04/1986 AS AMENDED ON 11/02/1998 AS AMENDED ON 16/07/2002 AS AMENDED ON 01/11/2011

Charitable objects

3. THE OBJECT OF THE INSTITUTION ("THE OBJECT") SHALL BE TO SAVE LIVES AT SEA AND ON INLAND AND FLOOD WATERS. IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECT, THE POWERS OF THE INSTITUTION SHALL WITHOUT LIMITATION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: 3.1 TO PROMOTE SAFETY AND PROVIDE RELIEF FROM DISASTER AT SEA AND ON INLAND AND FLOOD WATERS; 3.2 TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN MATTERS RELATING TO SAFETY AT SEA AND ON INLAND AND FLOOD WATERS AND IN THE HISTORY AND HERITAGE OF THE INSTITUTION; 3.3 TO PROMOTE THE EFFICIENCY OF RESCUE SERVICES AT SEA AND ON INLAND AND FLOOD WATERS; AND 3.4 TO RELIEVE AND ASSIST THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SAVING LIVES AT SEA AND ON INLAND AND FLOOD WATERS IN ANY CAPACITY AND WHO ARE IN NEED OF SUCH RELIEF OR ASSISTANCE BY REASON OF POVERTY, DISABILITY, INFIRMITY OR OTHERWISE, AND THE DEPENDENTS.

Area of benefit

The area the charity can operate in, as set out in its governing document.

PRIMARILY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY IN AND AROUND THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, THE ISLE OF MAN, THE CHANNEL ISLANDS AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.

Linked charities

Linked charities
Linked charity 209603-31 ARTHUR VESSEY MACHIN
Governing document
UNKNOWN
Charitable objects
HOT COFFEE & LIGHT FOOD FOR FILEY & SCARBOROUGH LIFE-BOAT CREWS & ANY PERSONS RESCUED BY THEM.
Area of benefit
FILEY AND SCARBOROUGH
Registration history
  • 28 January 1963 : Standard registration
  • 30 July 1997 : Removed

Contact information

Address:
RNLI
West Quay Road
Poole
BH15 1HZ
Phone:
0300 300 9990
Email:
company_secretary@rnli.org.uk
Website:

www.rnli.org Open in new window