An organisation funded totally by voluntary donations has a very special relationship with its friends.

Finding supporters, expanding and staying in touch with the supporter community is vital to the RNLI's future - as important as designing new lifeboats or training for crews. At regional and local level, RNLI supporters are amazingly active. Besides the main lifeboat days, tens of thousands of meetings and events take place every year across the UK to raise money and awareness. Shops and open lifeboat stations help to give a local presence, while national coverage in the media plays its part in keeping the RNLI in the public eye. For supporters, this magazine is one of the main ways to stay in touch and keep you informed. Online, the website hosts a fast growing e-community with up to 25,000 users per month and exciting plans for a new, improved service coming soon.

But nothing can beat the personal touch. Have you ever feft that you'd like to visit the RNLI itself and meet the crews face to face? Maybe bring your family and friends along so they can see why you're proud to be an RNLI supporter and inspire them to do the same? From 2006 that's just what you'll be able to do in the new, all-action Visitor Experience at RNLI headquarters in Poole, Dorset. This will be a chance see the RNLI in operation and visit the nerve centre of the nation's real fourth emergency service.

'It will be a real life encounter with what we are and what we do,' explains James Vaughan, public presentation manager. 'It's about the philosophy and the qualities that make the RNLI unique.' James believes that the humanity and drama of saving lives at sea are themes with universal appeal across generations. 'Everyone can admire the heroism and dedication of our crews and the spirit of volunteering that motivates them,' he says. 'It's the basis for an outstanding attraction.'But it won't all be wild seas and heroic rescues.

The Visitor Experience will also tell the behind-thescenes story of the RNLI and what it takes to be on watch and ready for action, 365 days a year. This huge resource of expertise and professionalism is a great untold story of 'everyday heroes' according to James. 'People don't realise that we lead the world in designing our own lifeboats and equipment. We safety test every single lifejacket that our crews go out in. Our logistics team can get a propeller from Poole to Skye in 12 hours. We run 400 training courses each year. A huge team effort lies behind every boat launch.' Key to that team's success is the unselfish contribution of fundraisers, legators and the public in making all this happen without a penny of public money being spent.

Is a visitor attraction right for the RNLI? Is it really in the entertainment business or should it be leaving that to Disney? What contribution will this make to the RNLI's core mission of saving lives? Certainly it's the right time to be looking at new ways to use the Poole headquarters site. Plans are already well advanced to build a Lifeboat College with stateof- the-art facilities. There will be new workshops, stores and a wave tank, so there are big savings to be made in creating the new Visitor Experience as part of this building programme.

Poole is also well placed to host a new leisure and learning attraction. Market research shows that over 8m people live within a two-hour drive time of the site. Over 5m visitors come to the Poole/ Bournemouth area each year, many with young families looking for fun and worthwhile things to do.

The commercial case looks good. Most importantly, a visitor attraction is a great way to reach new audiences with the RNLI message.

The charity needs new supporters, young and old. Younger people, and those with families, are proven to respond positively to the hands-on involvement that the Visitor Experience can give. And everyone, whatever their age, will be drawn into the excitement, humanity and drama of the story. James Vaughan has no doubts. 'Our values and our message don't change,' he says, 'but we must adapt the way we talk about them. The Visitor Experience will get people exploring and involved in the RNLI story.

There's no better way to gain their commitment to what we are and what we stand for.' So what will visitors be able to do? The RNLI has been developing a range of visitor experiences with the leading attractions development team, Land Design Studio and TGA Ltd.

Ready forthe lightning tour...

Imagine standing on the bridge of an all-weather lifeboat, steering a search pattern to find a single victim in the water. Other members of your crew scan the waves, looking for the smallest sign.

Suddenly there is a shout as one of the watchers spots the orange of a lifejacket. Now your task as coxswain becomes even more crucial as you follow their directions to steer close enough to the sailor to haul him out. There are tense moments as you edge alongside and then a cry of triumph as the rescuers catch hold.

Using the latest computer-based training software, this experience will be available to visitors, working together in a full-scale version of the lifeboat bridge with images on screens to provide a vivid sense of being there. Nearby, visitors find themselves facing a full sized, transparent human figure.It has the familiar red, yellow and green pattern of an infrared image showing the heat of a body under normal conditions. Visitors are invited to reach forward and grasp a metal rail below the figure. It is cold.

They now hear a clear, simple explanation of what happens in the sea as your body temperature drops. To begin with you have the strength to turn away from the waves. As you become weaker the waves hit you face on. You could now have less than 30 minutes to live. At the same time, the infrared pattern on the transparent body is changing to colder blues and whites. The visitors' hands are chilling on the metal rail where cold air has now started to blow. It takes just three minutes to show visitors, in a way that they'll never forget, just why every RNLI lifeboat needs to get to its rescue site as fast as possible.

Another, growing aspect of the RNLI's work features in the Beach Safety experience. Here visitors are asked to keep watch on a stretch of beach (projected on a wide cyclorama screen} and spot any dangers. There are plenty of people about and. as in real life, the situation is constantly changing. An airbed that was close to shore a moment ago is drifting out to sea. The family out on the rock pools haven't noticed the rising tide that may cut them off. The jet ski rider is coming much too close to the bathers. It takes sharp eyes to see the dangers (children may well be better at this than their parents) and good training to spot beach dangers in advance. Visitors leave with a sense of achievement at their own success and a new respect for the RNLI lifeguards who do this job every day.

The Visitor Experience will also house the RNLI's own rigging workshop, where ropes, scramble nets and other vital equipment are made for the lifeboats.

It's also where lifejackets come in from around the UK for their regular safety check. This is a real working environment, where visitors can see the skill and dedication of RNLI staff. You can even have a go at splicing a line yourself, under the guidance of a trained expert. The care that is given to checking every lifejacket for tears, leaks and buoyancy tells its own story - a clear reminder of the volunteer crews who risk their lives every day to save others. Each lifejacket could mean the difference between life and death. At the RNLI, no job is too small or too repetitive.

Meanwhile back at the operations room exhibit, other visitors are feeling the pressure. A huge map of the UK and Ireland shows the position of every lifeboat station as a light along the coast. When the light flashes it means that the station has sent a request to the operations room at Poole. They may need a new D Class in a hurry, a set of charts or a prop shaft. There may be crew booking into a training course, an all-weather lifeboat due in for service, a county show that needs an exhibition stand or a local TV programme asking to interview a female crew member. By touching one of several computer screens beneath the map, visitors can join the operations room team to deal with a request. They have just a few seconds to choose the right spare part, book the train tickets or search the crew lists for a woman's name. If they get it right, the station light stops flashing. But there is always another one, and another, in a job that goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

There's plenty more for visitors of all ages to do, including a dramatic 3D film show that tells the story of a rescue from the viewpoint of the crew and the sinking yacht waiting for them to arrive. Children can have fun dressing up in helmets and lifejackets to play in their own scaled-down D Class inflatable. For those with a scientific interest, there are explanations of just how the RNLI designs and tests its lifeboats and equipment.

The high point of the Visitor Experience comes as visitors exit on a raised walkway. To each side of them they see the faces of RNLI members - crew, engineers, fundraisers, donors, shore crews and medics. Each in turn animates to explain what the RNLI means to them and why they give their time and money. It's a story of ordinary people's dedication, volunteer spirit, professional skill and heroism. This is the RNLI, an organisation dedicated to saving lives and deserving of your support.

What will the new Visitor Experience do for the RNLI? At its simplest, it will make money as a well run, well marketed leisure and learning destination with an entry charge, shop and cafe. It will attract new supporters to the RNLI with a form of communication that has broad appeal. This is vital to keep the lifeboat service moving forward and adapting to changing conditions and demands. Finally, and just as importantly, it will recognise the pride and commitment of existing RNLI supporters. For James Vaughan it's a key priority. The people who are friends of the RNLI already are vital to our future,' he says.

The new Visitor Experience will give them the chance to meet us, talk with us and find out what we are really about..