The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a UK and Republic of Ireland based charity that saves lives at sea. Unlike other emergency services, it is funded completely by public donations. In the UK, there is a volunteer crew of over five thousand people carrying RNLI radio pagers, that are ready and prepared to drop everything, twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, to save lives while risking their own.
Wells-Next-The-Sea, in North Norfolk have been saving lives since 1830, but the first RNLI lifeboat station was built in 1869. Almost all its current lifeboat crew and shore helpers are unpaid local volunteers. This photographic project documents the Wells Lifeboat Station, the coxswain Allen Frary and the current volunteers. These people are heroes.