Tipperary branch of national charity attends Buckingham Palace garden party

Around 2,500 of the RNLI’s long-serving volunteers, staff and their families attended the RNLI 200th Anniversary Garden Party in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal, accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and RNLI President HRH The Duke of Kent.

Volunteers attending from Lough Derg RNLI were Liam Maloney, former Lifeboat Operations Manager and now Launching Authority, and his wife Deirdre, Dr Peter Hooker, Lifeboat Medical Advisor and Eleanor Hooker, Helm and Lifeboat Press Officer, as recipients of 20 year Long Service Awards.

Liam Maloney said ‘Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat has been a positive presence on the lake for water users for its first 20 years in service, with many people rescued and several lives saved. The RNLI’s safety messages are having a favourable impact as people respect the water’.

Volunteers from across the charity attending the garden party included lifeboat crew, lifeguards, water safety volunteers, fundraisers and recent recipients of meritorious service awards and The King’s Birthday and New Year Honours.

Since the RNLI was founded on 4 March 1824, the charity has saved more than 146,277 lives – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.

Today, the RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, including four on the River Thames, and has seasonal lifeguards on around 240 lifeguarded beaches around the UK.