RNLI celebrates 200th anniversary after saving nearly 150,000 lives

Charity's work has transformed since the lifesaving service was founded in a London tavern in 1824

It was founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824, a lifesaving service designed to go to the aid of the ships that crashed with alarming regularity on to the coasts of Britain and Ireland.

Exactly two centuries on, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is launching its bicentenary celebrations and has calculated that it has, so far, saved a grand total of 146,277 lives, an average of two a day.