Spend a morning on Dover’s modern marina, with its pleasant, undulating esplanade, curved benches and friendly, laid-back coffee shops, and you’d have no idea this port town was the setting for a demonstration of far-right protesters in black balaclavas just days ago. Today, I am greeted by dog walkers, lycra-clad cyclists, perky joggers and retirees on their relaxed morning stroll as they make their way along the waterfront, smiling a good morning as they go. All is quiet; all is calm. Even the sea is still as a millpond today, the September sunshine sparkling off a dreamy blue English Channel – France so clear you feel you could almost touch it. Follow the promenade as it curves around to the left, and at the end you’ll find a building that once simply represented a beacon of hope to anyone in trouble at sea: the RNLI Lifeboat Station. More recently, however, it’s been dragged into the centre of an ugly smear campaign.A protestor, part of the ‘Patriot Platform’, speaks outside an RNLI station in Poole on Wednesday (PA)The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a more than 200-year-old British institution, manned by thousands of unpaid volunteers who save hundreds of lives every year in the waters surrounding the UK and Ireland. Its mandate is simple: the charity is tasked by HM Coastguard to help all those in distress. Last year alone, 272 lives were saved as a result of RNLI’s efforts.But this noble endeavour has been attacked in recent days, with a deliberate campaign of hate-fuelled misinformation swirling around online, planted by nationalistic and far-right agitators. At the centre of the furore is the issue of small boats carrying migrants crossing from France. Sunday night saw an RNLI rescue operation bring 120 people to safety in Portsmouth after they attempted to cross the Channel in a single dinghy. That same day, hundreds of “stop the boats” protesters descended on the Hampshire town, blocking roads for hours. The day before, a similar protest hit Dover, with men dressed in black balaclavas marching through the streets and blocking roads and access to the port.Local Dover artist Holly described it as “Truly terrifying,” adding, “I was genuinely afraid. We walked into that gang of fascists with no warning.”Far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, suggested the demonstration was part of a coordinated plan, tweeting: “Simultaneously at different locations across Dover, patriots have mobilised to close down the port.”His associate Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, recently founded an anti-migrant network called the “Patriot Platform”. He posted video footage from the Dover protest on Instagram, saying: “It’s time! Protect our country! And more importantly our women and children! This is our warning!”On Wednesday, a further protest of around 50 people took place outside the RNLI’s headquarters in Poole, where demonstrators handed out rape alarms to women – claiming that they were at risk of being assaulted by migrants rescued by the charity.I’m not a traitor. I’m just a volunteer crewNeil, RNLI volunteerOnce a vessel is in British waters, it falls under the legal jurisdiction and responsibility of the United Kingdom – and if people are in trouble and lives are at risk, the RNLI may be called upon to launch a rescue mission on one of its lifeboats. The charity has, for two centuries, been saving the lives of strangers “without judgement, fear or favour”. Volunteers perform quiet acts of heroism every day, often risking their own safety to help others, without fanfare or applause.But this weekend’s events have seen these good Samaritans come under vicious attack. Some volunteers have been subject to abuse and threats while others have been doxxed online, with their photos, names and personal details leaked. The RNLI has advised its staff to choose carefully when to wear its uniform after what it described as "unacceptable abuse".RNLI issued a statement revealing that “some of our volunteers and staff have been the subject of online and, in some cases, physical abuse. This is unacceptable.”One volunteer, Neil, received threats and accusations of facilitating an “invasion” after his photo was shared on social media by anti-immigrant accounts. A video was leaked of him wearing his uniform aboard a lifeboat in Portsmouth – but in reality, his crew had nothing to do with rescuing those aboard the dinghy from France. They were there, somewhat ironically, to ensure the safety of far-right protesters who had entered the sea. Neil remains undeterred, telling the BBC: “I’ll be back on the boat when the pager goes off. It’d just be nice for those people who call me a traitor to know that I’m not a traitor. I’m just a volunteer crew.”Anti-immigration protesters brought traffic to a standstill in Dover on Saturday (AFP/Getty)Others have commented on social media about the abuse RNLI volunteers have been subjected to of late. “The two lifeboats came from the Isle of Wight, one of which is near where I live,” said one woman. “I know a couple of the crew and the way they have been treated is disgusting.” Any association with the life-saving charity is enough to draw poison from certain dark corners of the internet. British adventurer, author and former soldier Jordan Wylie was forced to issue a statement on social media after receiving threats over his affiliation with the RNLI’s Float to Live campaign this summer, which offered survival and water safety education to young people.“Like so many others, I volunteered my time and was not paid,” he tells The Independent. “I supported the RNLI’s Float to Live campaign because it teaches a simple technique that could save anyone’s life, particularly young people who I spent much of my life trying to help and support through Army Cadets and Scouts. “My involvement was about water safety education and saving lives, never politics. As someone who’s spent my whole life serving my country as a soldier and my community as a volunteer, it’s not nice to be targeted with online abuse for trying to help save lives.” The situation has escalated so severely that the RNLI has told volunteers to shut lifeboat stations if they feel in danger. When I wander along to Dover’s, it is open; the woman manning the shop is kind but wary. She has been told not to talk to the media, and I don’t blame her for seeming spooked. Security and police presence has also been increased around bases on the south coast, and I spot at least three police circulating in teams of two around the marina in the space of 20 minutes. Elsewhere, barriers have been erected around a memorial sculpture honouring RNLI volunteers in Poole.Jordan Wylie: ‘It’s not nice to be targeted with online abuse for trying to help save lives’ (PA)The charity is reviewing its safety protocols and has reminded staff and volunteers that “their safety comes first”.Despite the hysterical rhetoric around small boats, only 109 of the RNLI’s 9,058 launches last year were to those in distress in the Channel: just 1.2 per cent of its total rescue work. In fact, the vast majority – nearly 95 per cent – of people crossing the English Channel in small boats are aided or intercepted by other agencies, such as the UK Border Force and HM Coastguard.And despite fears around what have been dubbed “mega dinghies”, crossings are at a six-year low. In the period between 1 January and 7 September 2026, the number of migrants entering the UK from France on small boats across the Channel was down 43 per cent year on year.In response to the latest wave of abuse aimed at RNLI volunteers, supporters are fighting back. A petition has been launched on British not-for-profit political activism site 38 Degrees calling for the public to show their appreciation for RNLI and its lifesaving work. Wylie (centre) has been targeted online because of his support for RNLI's Float to Live campaign (Jordan Wylie)“To the staff and volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution,” reads the open letter thanking volunteers and staff. “Everyday you and your brave volunteers do an incredible job to make sure all those in waters around the UK are safe.“From holidaymakers enjoying the sea to migrants caught in desperate, terrifying situations, you carry out vital work protecting lives. And a minority of people who are abusing you should not be able to undermine your cause. They do not speak for us.“As people from all across the UK, we want to tell you how proud we are of you, and would like to express our support and gratitude for the heroic work you do.“Signed, Thousands of members of the public.”It has been signed by more than 89,000 people at the time of writing.Veronica Hawking, campaign director for 38 Degrees, says that although she “wasn’t surprised” by the big response to the campaign, she has been “heartened” by it.“I think it’s really easy to go onto social media and see lots of racist, anti-immigration comments – but actually just looking at the response both on the comments on our petition and social media video, they’re full of people showing empathy and solidarity and love, and recognising kind of the work that the RNLI do and what it must take to be a volunteer going out, not knowing what’s going to happen or if you’re going to come back safely.” I’d like to see those men insulting the RNLI when it’s them in the water, fighting for their lifeDover localThe vast majority of the British public “have got their backs and are grateful for what they do”, she says.In addition, there are plans to run adverts in support of the RNLI in local papers around the Isle of Wight, where the rescue boats were deployed from on Sunday, after over a thousand people donated to the 38 degrees campaign.38 Degrees is running ads in support of the RNLI (38 Degrees)Elsewhere, a satirical fundraising campaign for an RNLI “Flying Farage” hovercraft has jumped by more than £5,000 in donations in just two days. The GoFundMe, started by Simon Harris after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage branded the RNLI a "taxi service for illegal immigration" back in 2021, has raised £336,000 for the RNLI since its inception.Though a swarm of men in black face coverings might have us believe otherwise, the feeling on the ground in Dover towards the RNLI is very different. “It’s disgusting,” a local cafe proprietor says of abuse directed towards volunteers. “I’d like to see those men insulting the RNLI when it’s them in the water, fighting for their life.” A dog walker tells me that volunteers are a vital part of the community – whereas the protesters on Saturday who showed up and held the town hostage for a day are quite the opposite.Whatever your politics or views on immigration, the RNLI is fundamentally apolitical – an organisation whose sole purpose is to help anyone struggling in British waters, whoever they are, without discrimination or prejudice. As Jordan Wylie puts it: “Its volunteers selflessly put themselves in danger to help others every day. There is a fundamental principle in maritime law and practice that people in distress at sea should be rescued without discrimination. You do not first judge someone by their nationality, background, race, religion or circumstances – you act to protect human life.”