The first of the Thames lifeboats was officially named in June, marking the latest in a long legacy of lifeboats provided by The Lifeboat Fund. The early civil servants, who got together in 1866 to buy a single lifeboat, would have been amazed to see their work still going strong today and that their lifeboats have saved over 4,400 lives.The Communications and Public Service Lifeboat Fund (The Lifeboat Fund) is the longest standing supporter of the RNLI. As an independent charity, whose sole aim is to provide lifeboats for the RNLI, it has given nearly 140 years of loyal support and donated 44 lifeboats in that time.

Originally known as the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund, the organisation started from humble beginnings when a group of civil servants formed a committee and issued an appeaf to government offices. The committee asked for £300 to buy a lifeboat and, before the year was out, they had raised the money and bought the lifeboat Civil Service. The boat had 10 oars and incorporated the latest self-righting developments of that age.

Stationed at Wexford, on the southeast coast of the Republic of Ireland, she saved 122 lives and three vessels before she retired 12 years later.

Charles Dibden, founder of the fund and civil servant in the General Post Office, had such energy and enthusiasm that, by 1875, the fund had bought a second lifeboat which was stationed at Tynemouth.

This lifeboat was named after Charles Dibden as a tribute to all his hard work. Charles gave up his career in the post office to become RNLI Secretary in 1885. We can only begin to imagine what it must have meant at the time to sacrifice a state pension after 30 years' service.Despite the rising cost of boat construction, by 1892 the organisation had provided nine lifeboats and had £7,000 in its coffers. In 1919 the fund had bought Dunleary (Civil Service No 7), its first motor lifeboat. A second motorboat was named after Lord Southborough, the fund's long standing chairman and secretary, and took over at Margate and served therefor 25 years.

The troubled years following the First World War saw economic problems for the organisation. It was forced to reduce its help with crew payments and lifeboat maintenance costs but still managed to provide six further motor lifeboats.

By the end of WW2 things were looking up again and, thanks to the efforts of fund secretary Charles Barrett, the organisation had built up a reserve of £400.000. After the war years, a new council of 50 members, led by an executive committee of eight, went ahead with the task of replacing six pre-war lifeboats. The fund still operates this council system.

The Civil Service saw changes in the late 1960s and early '80s, when the Post Office and British Telecommunications (BT) split from the service. So the fund changed its name to the Civil Service, Post Office and British Telecommunications Lifeboat Fund to reflect these new bodies in the charity. This title was rather long-winded so the organisation became known by the acronym CISPOTEL for many years. In March 2001, the Post Office became a government owned PLC and changed its name to Consignia. This meant that the fund had to find another name that would clearly express its role and avoid the need for any future change. After careful consideration and consultation, the charity decided on The Lifeboat Fund as its new name.

Today the fund is stronger than ever and its main activity continues to be a regular appeal for contributions from both serving and retired civil servants, and employees of Consignia and BT.

Considerable sums of money are still collected from serving staff by simply circulating subscription forms.

Retired civil servants, Consignia pensioners, and BT staff mainly subscribe through pension payroll and payroll giving. The government gives a boost to payroll giving by adding 10% to all donations - a benefit it will honour until 2003. The Lifeboat Fund gained almost £8,500 during 2001 as a result.

Supporters are also encouraged to raise funds in other ways, depending on the inventiveness of their local representatives and supporters. Sports enthusiasts are encouraged to participate in a favourite sport to raise money and take part in other events, including the Flora London Marathon, to raise sponsorship.

There are currently three of the fund's boats in the operational fleet and three in the relief fleet.

There are also another three historical boats on display at the Lifeboat! gallery, at Chatham Dockyard in Kent.

The latest chapter in the fund's history was written when members celebrated the naming of their 44th lifeboat, Public Servant (Civil Service No 44), on 11 June. The fund contributed £270,000 towards the cost of the new Thames lifeboat, the boathouse at Tower Pier and the crew's training. The lifeboat has only been on the river since January and has already launched 26 times and saved one life - testament not only to our brave crews and all the people behind the scenes, but the work of our long standing friends in The Lifeboat Fund.Current RNLI lifeboats funded by The Lifeboat Fund Name RNLI Ops No Class Current allocation Launches Richard Evans (Civil Service No 39} St Cybi II (Civil Service No 40) The Princess Royal (Civil Service No 41) Windsor Runner (Civil Service No 42) Fraser Flyer (Civil Service No 43) Public Servant (Civil Service No 44) 52-16 47-004 12-009 14-06 17-17 E-001 Arun Tyne Mersey [rent Severn E class Relief fleet Relief fleet St Ives Blyth Relief fleet Thames 323 309 123 73 45 24 Lives saved 70 119 13 14 2 1 Figures conect as at 23 May 2002.