York Rescue Boat

What York Rescue Boat does

York Rescue Boat is a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1155849), founded in 2014 and headquartered at York Eco Business Centre, Amy Johnson Way, York. The organization delivers three interconnected services under a unified mission: Water Safety Education aimed at the general public and young people, Proactive Patrol Services at high-risk times to prevent water entries, and 24/7 on-call Rescue Capability delivered to North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. Its underlying technology is operational rather than digital — water rescue boats and emergency response equipment — with no proprietary software, APIs, or AI components disclosed.

The organization is volunteer-led, with headcount represented only as "0+ volunteers" and no paid management team or named executives listed. Its revenue model is charitable donations: the public contributes via the website donation portal, mailing list engagement, and fundraising events such as the 2025 Gala held in May 2025, and all services are provided free of charge. Distribution is regional, confined to Yorkshire, and split between formal emergency-service partnerships (the two named institutional customers) and direct-to-public community engagement (education and patrols).

The go-to-market motion is community-led: acquisition of volunteers through a "Join Us" page, donor acquisition through the donation portal and events, and operational activation exclusively through dispatch by the two emergency service partners. There are no patents, trademarks, awards, acquisitions, funding rounds, or regulatory actions on record, and the entity operates as an independent non-profit with no parent organization, subsidiaries, or institutional investors.

Name

York Rescue Boat

Legal name

York Rescue Boat

Website

https://yorkrescueboat.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

York Rescue Boat is a volunteer-led registered charity in York, UK providing water safety education, preventive river patrols, and 24/7 on-call rescue services to North Yorkshire Police and Fire and Rescue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Water Rescue Services

NAICS

Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Search & Rescue (Urban/Water/Wilderness) Coordination (HLAJAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fire & Rescue Services (Fire Suppression, Rescue) (BPAIAGAB)

Keywords

• Water rescue services
• Water safety education
• Emergency river patrol
• Volunteer search rescue
• Drowning prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

York

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: The organization generates revenue through public donations via its website, allowing supporters to contribute financially to support rescue operations and water safety initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

York Rescue Boat is a volunteer-led registered charity (Charity Number 1155849) that delivers an integrated water safety service across three pillars: Water Safety Education (educating the public and youngsters about water dangers), Proactive Patrol Services (river patrols at high-risk times to prevent water entries), and 24/7 Rescue Capability (on-call emergency response for North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue). All services are provided free of charge, with the charity funded through public donations, events, and volunteer support.

Product overview

York Rescue Boat is a charitable organization (Charity Number 1155849) offering a single integrated service focused on water safety and rescue operations. The organization provides three interconnected core services: Water Safety Education (educating the public and youngsters about water dangers), Proactive Patrol Services (preventing water entry at high-risk times), and 24/7 Rescue Capability (on-call emergency response for North Yorkshire Police and Fire and Rescue). There are no separate product tiers, modules, or add-on offerings—all services fall under the unified York Rescue Boat charitable mission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water Safety Education Educating members of the public and youngsters about the dangers of water and how to help someone in difficulty. Targeted at school children, youth groups, and community groups in the York and North Yorkshire area.
• Proactive Patrol Services Preventing people from entering the water where possible by conducting proactive patrols at high-risk times across rivers and waterways in the York and North Yorkshire area.
• 24/7 Rescue Capability Providing a 24/7 on-call water rescue response capability to North Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue when activated for water rescue incidents within the force's jurisdiction.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• North Yorkshire PolicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal operational partnership where York Rescue Boat provides 24/7 on-call water rescue capability to North Yorkshire Police. When activated, the organization's volunteers respond to water rescue incidents within the force's jurisdiction.
• North Yorkshire Fire and RescuecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal operational partnership where York Rescue Boat provides 24/7 on-call water rescue capability to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. The organization supplements the fire service's water rescue capabilities during emergencies.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Yorkshire Air Ambulance: A Yorkshire-based emergency response charity providing air ambulance services. Comparable as a regional volunteer/charity-funded emergency response organization serving the same North Yorkshire community as York Rescue Boat.

Others

• HM Coastguard: The UK government agency coordinating maritime search and rescue. Comparable as a coordinating body for water rescue incidents, and a potential partner/commissioner for York Rescue Boat's services in the broader emergency response ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI): The UK's largest volunteer-led water rescue charity, operating lifeboats and water safety education. It is the most direct peer to York Rescue Boat, sharing the volunteer rescue charity model and water safety education mission, though at vastly greater national scale.
• Mountain Rescue England and Wales: A volunteer-led search and rescue charity providing 24/7 emergency response, very similar in operating model to York Rescue Boat: volunteer-only, charity-funded, formal partnerships with statutory emergency services, and a strong community engagement function.
• Royal Life Saving Society UK (RLSS UK): A national charity focused on water safety education, drowning prevention, and lifeguard training. Directly comparable to York Rescue Boat's 'Educate' and 'Prevent' pillars, with overlapping public education programs and drowning prevention mission.
• Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA): A volunteer-led inland water rescue charity serving the Severn area with rescue boats, search teams, and safety education. Highly comparable to York Rescue Boat in mission, volunteer structure, and inland water focus, though operating in a different region.

Broad incumbents

• St John Ambulance: A national first aid and emergency response charity providing trained volunteers to support statutory services. Comparable in the volunteer-led emergency response model, though focused on medical first aid rather than water rescue.
• British Red Cross: A large established emergency response and humanitarian charity offering a broad portfolio including emergency support, first aid, and rescue-adjacent services. Comparable to York Rescue Boat in charitable emergency response mission, but at much greater national scale and scope.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yorkrescueboat

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about York Rescue Boat