Registered Charity No
1159975
HISTORY OF THE CHARITY
In 1994 when two fishermen lost their lives off the Cornish coast near a recently closed Coastguard lookout, local people decided to open and restore the visual watch. When the first station was opened at Bass Point on the Lizard, NCI was born.
Our objective is the preservation of life at sea and along the coasts of England and Wales by spotting vessels and/or people at risk or in distress and initiating their rescue. We maintain a visual and listening watch during daylight hours for 365 days per year from most of our 61 lookout stations and 96 CCTV cameras.
When we do SPOT, we need to PLOT an exact position of the casualty and then REPORT the incident to the Coastguard Maritime Rescue Control Centres. If a lifeboat launches on service – we will if required maintain contact with the RNLI and ASSIST in steering them to the casualty.
In 2023, NCI participated in over 850 search and rescue incidents, of which 365 were initiated by NCI watchkeepers. Up to September 2024 NCI has been involved in 614 search and rescue incidents, resulting in 293 persons rescued, 111 of whom were rescued at NCI-initiated shouts.
In 2025 our watchkeepers were involved in 937 search and rescue incident resulting in the rescue of 298 people and assistance provided to 568 people.
These results could not be achieved without the invaluable support of our volunteers, patrons, sponsors and our donors.
Funds are needed to help continue the charity’s lifesaving work assisting HM Coastguard. This includes the development of new stations and safety cameras, essential maintenance, public safety programmes, equipment and training.
Please support: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/go-nationalcoastwatch