Two-hundred years ago, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity was created. The service's motto is "saving lives at sea", but its beginnings were very much on dry land - right in the heart of the City of London.
"It's a volunteer organisation with volunteer crew and that it's supported by charitable donations which since 1824 we have been. It's a really significant event - a key part of our history that we're celebrating." Following a campaign by families of some of the victims and an inquiry into safety on the Thames by Lord Justice Clarke, there was a fundamental review of emergency response procedures on the river.Janet Kelly was appointed the first manager at Tower Pier and ran the station for 14 years
"The Thames Division - which is part of the Metropolitan Police - they didn't want their Waterloo Police pier by Waterloo Bridge. The police were very generous and allowed the RNLI to buy the pier for a token sum of a pound.