Queensferry Lifeboat Station is celebrating the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s (RNLI) 200th anniversary.

On the day the charity turns 200 (Monday, March 4) the RNLI is revealing its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved 146,277 lives during its two centuries of lifesaving. That’s two lives every day for 200 years.

Queensferry RNLI lifeboat station was founded in 1967. Since then, its lifeboats have been launched 2,255 times and 188 lives have been saved.

Nowadays, Queensferry RNLI is one of the busiest inshore lifeboat stations in Scotland.

In 2021, their lifeboat was launched on service 100 times in a year for the first time ever. This figure has remained around the same in 2022 and 2023.

Dunfermline Press: Queensferry RNLI lifeboat Station was founded in 1967.Queensferry RNLI lifeboat Station was founded in 1967. (Image: RNLI/ RNLI Queensferry)

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Adele Allan, Lifeboat Press Officer, added; “Every RNLI station has their own piece of history, unique story or significant facts. At Queensferry, we are particularly fortunate with our station situated under the Forth Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Dunfermline Press: RNLI Queensferry has launched its lifeboats 2,255 times.RNLI Queensferry has launched its lifeboats 2,255 times. (Image: RNLI/ RNLI Queensferry)

“To make it even more special, the RNLI shares its anniversary with the iconic structure which was opened on 4 March 1890. UNESCO have also formally recognised the RNLI’s 200th anniversary.”

To mark 200 years of the RNLI, a service of Thanksgiving took place at Westminster Abbey in London earlier today.

It was due to be attended by representatives from RNLI lifesaving communities across the country, including David Smart, Lifeboat Operations Manager, and Maggie Quayle, Deputy Launch Authority, from Queensferry RNLI lifeboat station.

David, who has volunteered for 36 years with Queensferry RNLI, said: “Many congratulations to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on the occasion of its 200th anniversary.

“The RNLI have been saving lives for 200 years and Queensferry Lifeboat Station are proud to have carried on the lifesaving tradition for over a quarter of this time, since being established at Hawes Pier in 1967.”