RNLI calls for new fundraising volunteers to join Dublin crews

The RNLI is looking for new fundraising volunteers to join its lifesaving crew in Dun Laoghaire, Skerries, Howth and Clontarf.

Just like the charity’s lifeboats, the RNLI’s fundraising team need a dedicated volunteer crew, a spokesperson says.

“Volunteers are at the heart of the RNLI and make up 95% of its people. They are ordinary people who do extraordinary things and without them, the organisation couldn’t continue to save lives at sea.”

Caroline Gibson is the secretary of the Dun Laoghaire RNLI fundraising branch having first got involved two years ago when she returned home from England.

“My good friend Jenny Needham who I have known since I was 14 and has been involved with Dun Laoghaire RNLI for years in various roles including as crew member and Deputy Launching Authority, was the person who encouraged me to get involved,” she said.

“When I returned home from Brighton in 2021 after 16 years away, I wanted to get involved in something local and found that I was attending my first fundraising meeting within a few months.

“I remember someone asking at that meeting if there was anyone willing to takes notes. I had a pen in my hand and waved and I have been the secretary ever since!”

Mary Creedon, RNLI Fundraising Partnership Lead hails the selfless efforts of people like Caroline: ‘Without our volunteers, the RNLI simply would not be able to operate the way it does today,” she says.

“With 92% of the RNLI’s income coming from donations, the charity relies on the generosity of supporters and on the dedication of our fundraising volunteers to help raise essential funds.

“Thousands of community fundraising volunteers organise a wide range of activities and events each year, contributing their time, energy and skills to raise money to save lives at sea.

“Some of our fundraisers have been volunteering for many years while some just join us for a few months in the year depending on what their commitments allow.”

To find out more about how you can sign up to be a fundraising volunteer at one of the RNLI’s Dublin branches, or to apply, visit the website: rnli.org/OneCrewVolunteers