Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue

GAFIRS is an independent Inshore Rescue Service that provides free marine rescue cover in the Solent, from Portsmouth Harbour to Titchfield Haven. It's lifeboat crews are on call with Solent Coastguard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Last year (2000) the service was called 120 times, making it one of the top ten busiest lifeboat stations in the country.
All of the crew are volunteers and give freely of their time to aid the service. GAFIRS is unique in that not only does it use its training skills to teach the lifeboat crews but, as a fully approved RYA Training Centre, undertakes training of local Fire Officers, yachtsmen, SCUBA divers and fishermen.
Although the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service was established in 1969 to protect those at sea in the Eastern Solent, it is regularly called upon in times of flooding. The lifeboat crews, shore helpers and cadets undertake community work both during and after storms by clearing fallen trees, using small boats to take householders from their flooded homes or rescuing people stranded in their cars.
It costs £35,000 a year to run this service. This does not include capitol projects, such as fund raising for a new lifeboat or the replacement of equipment.