The Hibbert Assembly FOR THOSE IN PERIL IN THE SEA Suggestions for a secondary school asssembly
You have probably all seen people holding collecting boxes in the street, and handing out badges or stickers to people who give them a donation for a particular charity.
The first time this happened officially in Britain was in 1891, in Manchester.And it was on the 8th of October. It was for a charity that had been founded in 1824, just 175 years ago. The collection was for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Some of you may have seen a lifeboat station if you have been to the coast. You may even have seen a lifeboat being launched.
But did you know that lifeboats around the coast of Britain and Ireland, at 222 stations, are provided by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and that the crew of each lifeboat is made up of volunteers?
They are men and women living on the coast who normally have other jobs. But when they hear the signal telling them that the lifeboat is needed, they drop whatever they are doing and go straight to the lifeboat station so that the boat can be quickly launched.
These are people who care more for others than for themselves.
Of course lifeboat crews are well trained and of course they pay a high regard to safety. But in the end, however good the boat, however careful the crew, there is always a strong element of danger. They must know, every time they set out, that their life is at risk, but they go just the same knowing that someone else, or many other people, are already in great danger.
The Royal National LIfeboat Institution is still a charity. It does not get any money from the government. It is dependent on hundreds and thousands of people caring about the lives of others and being willing to contribute to street collections or in other ways to pay for the purchase of lifeboats and the maintenance of the lifeboat stations.
Perhaps one day someone close to you, or even you yourself, will be in immediate need of the help of a lifeboat. Let us be grateful for the men and women who make up the crew of the boats, the people who give money to the RNLI, and the people who give up their time to collect in the streets.
	Return to the Hibbert Assembly Main Index Return to Those in peril on the sea index