Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has raised £50,000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – surpassing its 2023 target by an incredible £10,000.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s  longest-standing corporate partner, and for more than 60 years, has been working together with guests to fundraise towards saving lives at sea.

Since 2000, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and their guests have collected more than £1.4million which has funded five inshore lifeboats, three mobile training units, three seminar rooms at the RNLI College in Poole, the development and funding of three lifeboat-launching trolleys, crew member training and crew equipment.

Across the fleet of three smaller ships Bolette, Borealis and Balmoral, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines raised £50,000 through a variety of fundraising events, including guests on board Borealis’ world cruise being challenged to walk, run, cycle and swim 34,849 miles – the equivalent distance of their ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ cruise.

Dr Kate Bunyan, Director of Health Services at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and RNLI Volunteer, said:

“We’re incredibly proud to be the RNLI’s longest-standing corporate partner, with a relationship that has spanned more than 60 years.

“As a volunteer Lifeboat Medical Adviser for the RNLI, I also have the privilege of witnessing firsthand the incredible work that volunteers put in to protect lives at sea and the impact that each donation to the RNLI makes. We look forward to continuing our fundraising in the years to come.”

Jayne George, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Media at the RNLI, said:

“Our corporate partners are vital to our fundraising efforts to save lives at sea. We cherish the relationships we share with our corporate partners, and we’re incredibly proud for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to be our longest-standing corporate partner, with a relationship that has spanned more than half a century.

“The £50,000 donation from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and their guests is an incredible aid to our fundraising efforts and we can’t wait to work together in 2024 and beyond.”

The five lifeboats funded by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ fundraising, include the Pride of Fred. Olsen in 2019, and the Spirit of Fred. Olsen which launched in the picturesque Scottish Highland village of Kyle of Lochalsh in April 2012.

In June, guests on board Balmoral were on deck to wave at the Spirit of Fred. Olsenwhen it pulled alongside the ship as it passed the Kyle of Lochalsh RNLI lifeboat station in Scotland. The lifeboat was launched after £170,000 was raised to coincide with Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines commemorating its 170^th birthday and celebrating 50 years of partnership with the RNLI.

The relief lifeboat, an Atlantic 85, capable of up to 35 knots, was built at the RNLI’s inshore lifeboat production facility on the Isle of Wight and the name was chosen for the lifeboat by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ guests Margaret Whittington, Peter Ruck and Joan Hutchings in a competition onboard its fleet of smaller-sized ships.