The charity’s volunteers have been targeted for helping migrants at sea, with footage posted on social media showing them described as “traitors”
20 Sep 2026, 15:29
| Updated: 6h ago
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The RNLI has told its supporters that their personal data may have been leaked in the wake of ongoing efforts by ‘far-right agitators’ to target the charity following recent anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth.
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The charity’s volunteers have found themselves the target of abuse in recent weeks after volunteers helped rescue 120 migrants travelling in a mega-dinghy across the channel.
Footage posted to social media in the wake of the rescue shows volunteers described as “traitors”, after bringing a dinghy to safety in the Hampshire port city.
In a letter accompanying the charity’s autumn copy of its Lifeboat magazine, it warned the public that details including thier “name, contact details and records of interactions with the RNLI” may have been breached after a cyber-attack targeted a company it uses for customer relationship management.
It comes after Bridget Phillipson accused political parties, including the Conservatives and Reform, of “normalising” extreme rhetoric in the UK and “emboldening” online commenters as she spoke with LBC on Sunday.
According to The Telegraph, the RNLI reported that Beacon CRM informed the RNLI of the breach, telling the charity to “assume that data held within its systems was taken” in attack.
The hack is believed to have impacted around 1,500 charities and took place in late July.
The letter added that there was no evidence to date that there had been misuse or sharing of the information accessed during the cyber-attack.
It comes after the RNLI was forced to temporarily shut down its Portsmouth base after the charity was subjected to ongoing abuse and volunteers’ personal information was shared online after they attempted to assist channel migrants in difficulty.
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At the time, an RNLI spokesman said the Portsmouth Lifeboat Station has been “temporarily off service” since September 10.
“We hope to have the lifeboat station back on service as soon as possible.
“Search and rescue cover continues to be provided through established contingency arrangements, including flank RNLI stations and other declared assets.”
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Alamy
The charity has another lifeboat station on Hayling Island and there is another lifeboat station independent of the RNLI in Gosport.
Hundreds of protesters blocked roads overnight on September 6 and vowed to stop migrants from leaving Portsmouth after they arrived in a dinghy across the English Channel.
The boat, reported to be carrying about 140 migrants, is thought to have made one of the longest journeys of any small boat, and landings as far west as Hampshire are rare.
The RNLI later issued security advice warning volunteers and staff not to wear the charity’s branding because of “unacceptable abuse”.
The charity’s chief executive, Peter Sparkes, has said abuse of RNLI volunteers was “wholly unacceptable in a civilised society”.
He said recent protests generated “deliberate misinformation and a misunderstanding about the RNLI – our purpose, our tasking, and particularly our lifesaving work in the Channel”.
Protests have been held at RNLI sites, including on September 9, when a small anti-migrant gathering was held at the RNLI College in Poole, Dorset.
