“Hello,” my friend said as he strode towards me at London Bridge. “This is a nice surprise!” Ordinarily, he may have missed me as he walked through the station, just another face in the crowd of people bustling to and from their destinations. But it was London Lifeboat Day and in my full kit of bright yellow jacket, trousers and red dummy lifejacket, I was hardly blending into the background!

It was my second year collecting for the RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea. Preparing to collect at Liverpool Street last year, I told myself not to expect too much: we’re in the midst of an economic downturn and it would be understandable if people were less keen to part with their hard-earned cash. But as one man put a £10 note into my bucket and people actually went out of their way across the station concourse to make donations, I realised the kindness of strangers was out in full force, credit crunch or not.

It was a similar story at London Bridge yesterday. In my experience, volunteering is an uplifting experience for both the volunteer and the donator; people you normally wouldn’t have a reason to speak to if you passed them in the street say kind things and tell you stories. “God bless you, keep up the fantastic work,” one man said. Meanwhile, an elderly gentleman reminisced about his 25 years in the navy and how he had served several months on HMS Belfast, which is now situated not far from where we were standing. While a tube strike may have meant fewer people travelled through London stations than usual, those that did were a generous bunch and as my roll of stickers diminished in size, it was heartening to see such kindness in action.

So what’s it all for? Since it was formed in 1824 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has saved over 140,000 lives. Its active fleet of over 340 lifeboats come in two categories: all-weather and inshore, in order to serve various types of location. London Lifeboat week runs until May 4 and comes amid news that a record number of people had to be rescued from the Thames by lifeboat crews last year.

A report in the London Evening Standard quotes Tower lifeboat station helmsman Chris Walker as saying: “Everything we do is on the back of voluntary contributions. Without the contributions of Londoners, we wouldn’t be able to do the rescues we do on the Thames.”

While RNLI regional operations manager Peter Dawes said: “The RNLI was asked to establish lifeboats on the River Thames following the inquiry into the Marchioness disaster in 1989 when a party boat collided with a dredger and sank. Sadly, 51 people drowned in that incident. Out of that tragedy grew a lifeboat service that has rescued thousands of people and saved hundreds of lives since it was established in London in January 2002.”

Of course, it’s not all about London – the RNLI has an on call, 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service around the UK and Ireland. Education presenters give talks to schoolchildren about how to stay safe around water and visits can be arranged to lifeboat stations, beaches and museums.

As long as there’s water and as long as there are people, there’ll always be a need for the RNLI. 92% of the RNLI’s total income comes from donations and legacies. For more information on this incredible charity’s work and how to support it, visit www.rnli.org