Volunteer Life Brigade House

The Volunteer Life Brigades date from a time when Coastguard provision for coastal rescue had been substantially reduced. The first unit, at Tynemouth, was established on 5 December 1864 following a series of shipwrecks on the shoreline in which crewmembers perished watched by spectators ashore who were powerless to help. Over 100 volunteers signed up at the first public meeting. Other units soon followed, often founded in similar circumstances and modelled along the lines of Tynemouth's example. From the start the Volunteer Life Brigades worked closely with local Coastguard officers, providing trained and disciplined teams of volunteers to assist in emergency situations; training was…