THE Royal National Lifeboat Institution has issued an urgent reminder to people in the South Hams to opt in to receiving communications from them.

From Sunday, January 1, the RNLI will be the first major charity to move to an ‘opt-in only’ approach for communicating with its supporters.

The charity will then ‘close the doors’ on its current supporter database, only contacting those who have expressly given permission to be contacted.

Made in October 2015, the decision to stop communicating directly with supporters without permission applies to all forms of communication, not just fundraising appeals, and to all methods of contacting supporters. The RNLI will be the first major charity to operate in this way.

The RNLI has the greatest respect for supporters, from volunteer lifeboat crews and community fundraisers, to the public who respond to appeals.

When stories appeared highlighting issues around the ways in which charities contact supporters, the RNLI decided to strengthen its already strict procedures and pledged only to contact people who wish to hear from the lifesaving charity.

Members of the public are asked to ‘opt-in’ and give their permission to be contacted by visiting www.rnli.org/savelives or telephoning the RNLI’s supporter care team on 0300 300 9918.