Wandsworth Riverside Lifeboat Station Now Operational

New base is ten times the size of former home in Chiswick

The station will become one of the busiest run by the RNLI. Picture: RNLI

September 22, 2026

Wandsworth has become the new home of one of the country’s busiest lifeboat stations, as the RNLI crew who patrol the tidal Thames begin operations from their purpose-built base at Wandsworth Riverside. The move, completed on Tuesday 22 September, marks a major moment for the service.

For nearly 25 years the crew operated from temporary accommodation at Chiswick Pier, a stop-gap solution created when the RNLI launched its dedicated Thames search and rescue service in 2002. The four stations at Chiswick, Teddington, Tower and Gravesend were opened at speed, using whatever space was immediately available.

At Chiswick, the lifeboat shared a building with the Chiswick Pier Trust, with communal meeting rooms, a shared kitchen and toilets, and a kit room barely large enough for a handful of volunteers. The station’s 60 crew members had to take their kit home after every shift. It was never intended to be permanent, but finding a suitable site on the river proved far more challenging than expected.

A former sales centre for the Riverside Quarter development—later converted into offices—became available, and after a change of use was approved and a full refit completed, the building was transformed into the new Wandsworth Riverside Lifeboat Station. The move brings the RNLI into a part of the Thames where riverside communities, passenger services and houseboats sit side by side, and where incident demand is consistently high.

The new station is more than ten times the size of the Chiswick premises. Volunteers now have a large kit room with hanging space for every crew member, ending the long-standing practice of carrying equipment back and forth. A dedicated meeting room can be used for management discussions or training sessions. Duty and off-duty crew have their own bunk and rest rooms, and a spacious open-plan crew room with a well-equipped galley finally provides enough space for teams working 12-hour shifts around the clock.

A public engagement space on the ground floor has its own entrance, separate from operational areas. It will host water-safety education visits, community talks and retail activity, with the option to expand onto the riverside terrace during summer events—bringing the RNLI’s work closer to Wandsworth residents and visitors.

The operational advantages are significant. Wandsworth Pier is a Thames Clipper stop and home to many houseboats, placing the lifeboat station at the centre of a busy stretch of river. Part of the existing jetty has been upgraded to provide moorings for the duty and standby lifeboats, now visible from the first-floor crew room and slightly closer than the moorings at Chiswick. Crucially, the new location is nearer to the majority of incidents attended by the crew, meaning call-out times should improve.

The station’s workload remains substantial. Before the move, the crew attended 212 incidents in 2026 and more than 5,600 since the Thames service began in 2002, rescuing over 2,500 people. In the week leading up to the relocation, they were called out five times, with at least one rescue described as potentially life-saving.

The Chiswick-based crew on a call out this week. Picture: RNLI

Although the name has changed, the lifeboat crews will continue to operate along the same stretch of river between Battersea and Richmond, remaining a familiar sight to communities upriver.

As always, the RNLI’s work remains entirely funded by public donations.