The Lifeboat College is the national training centre of the RNLI in Poole,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England.

History

The RNLI has around 4,600 crew members. The RNLI receives no government financial assistance.

Construction

The turf was cut in January 2003. It was built by Dean and Dyball of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. It was opened by the Queen on 28 July 2004.

Structure

It is situated slightly north of, and next-door to, the famous speedboat manufacturer

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on the west side of

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, off the

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. Directly to the north is the large Asda Poole. On the opposite side of the road is the RNLI Support Centre. Also nearby is the RNLI All-Weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) which opened in August 2015. It is a residential college and has sixty bedrooms. It has an annual cost of around £1.1 million. It aimed to train around 4,000 people a year, although around 1,500 are currently trained each year. It often hosts exhibitions and conferences with organisations unconnected to the RNLI, such as trade exhibitions. It has a 120-seat auditorium. A lifeboat simulator, with a five-metre-radius cylindrical visualisation screen with Digital Light Processing (DLP), was provided by Antycip Simulation UK of Oxfordshire.

Training

It has a Sea Survival Centre with a 25 m × 12.5 m × 4 m deep wave pool.

Visits

On 5 February 2014,

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series 2 episode 3 of

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visited the college, with instructor Matt Cridland. It was filmed on 24 September 2013.

References

External links

* {{RNLI lifeboat classes 2004 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 2004 Buildings and structures in Poole Economy of Dorset Education in Poole Educational institutions established in 2004 Exhibition and conference centres in England Further education colleges in Dorset Royal National Lifeboat Institution Survival training