The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has won the Lifetime Achievement and the Project of the Year awards, presented at the Global Search & Rescue Excellence Awards on 15 May 2026.
The annual Global Search & Rescue Excellence Awards, recognise and celebrate the achievements of search and rescue teams, volunteers, organisations and suppliers who have made a difference on the frontline, responding to disasters and emergencies around the world.
Leslie Coe, from Walmer RNLI Lifeboat Station, Kent, was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Les has dedicated 71 years to saving lives at sea, and first joined Walmer RNLI as a teenage shore crew member in 1955, going on to serve on the inshore lifeboat between 1964 and 1972. In 1970, he was awarded the RNLI’s Thanks of the Institution on Vellum for his role in rescuing two people trapped in a cave by the tide.
Additionally, the work of the RNLI’s International Team won Project of the Year for the Fisher’s Buoyancy Workshop. The project brought together international experts and local communities to co-design innovative, low-cost buoyancy solutions for fishing communities in East Africa.
Peter Sparkes, Chief Executive of the RNLI said: ‘I am immensely proud to hear that RNLI representatives won two awards at the Global Search & Rescue Excellence Awards. I extend my sincere congratulations to Leslie Coe for winning the Lifetime Achievement award for more than 70 years’ dedication to saving lives at sea, and to the Buoyancy Project Zanzibar for winning the Project of the Year.
‘The RNLI has been saving lives at sea for more than 200 years thanks to the selflessness of its volunteers, and the charity’s ability to innovate – both of which are demonstrated by the deserving recipients of these two awards. I would also like to congratulate the other organisations and individuals who have won an award. It is a privilege to work alongside each other so that together we may make the world a safer place.’
