The leader of a lifeboat crew in Portsmouth said the children of two crew members had been bullied by their peers over their fathers’ volunteer work. The volunteers have also been confronted while shopping and socialising in public, according to a report by the Times.
RNLI crews have faced years of abuse for the charity’s role in rescuing migrants crossing the Channel.
In one instance, a lifeboat crew was trapped inside its boathouse for two hours during a protest at Eastney harbour. Volunteers from other RNLI stations were tasked with ensuring the safety of anti-migrant protesters who entered the sea during the protest.
Images of the crews’ faces were shared online, alongside calls to identify them. One widely shared post on X urged people to “get their family”.
Callouts for small boats in distress while crossing the Channel constitute only 1.7 per cent of the charity’s total, however. In 2025, 41,472 people crossed the Channel, but only 2,353, or 5.7 per cent, were rescued by the RNLI.
According to the Times report, Peter Sparkes, the charity’s chief executive, said there had been “deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding” about RNLI tasking and how it responded in the Channel.
“Sadly, as a result, some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in the worst cases, physical abuse,” he said.
“The RNLI’s people represent the very best in our society, they selflessly give up their time to keep others safe.
“Yet they and their families are being threatened by those who would hide behind a balaclava or a keyboard.
“Their action, in contrast, is wholly unacceptable in a civilised society.”
