LIFESAVING charity the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is calling on supporters to step up to the plate and hold fundraising fish suppers.

Its Fish Supper campaign honours volunteer lifeboat crew who often miss meal times and special occasions when their pagers call them away to carry out rescues at sea. The premise is simple – people are encouraged to host a fish-themed dinner party with friends or family from October 14-16.

Participants make a donation in return for their meal to raise vital funds for the charity. In 2015 alone, the RNLI’s lifeboats launched 8,228 times and its volunteers rescued 7,973 people across the UK and Ireland.

The total includes 348 people who would have died if they hadn’t been saved by the RNLI. Area manager Adele Fuller said: “This is a great opportunity to get together with family and friends and tuck into some fish-themed food to help the RNLI save lives at sea. Meals can vary from simple dishes such as fish finger sandwiches or a tuna salad to a more ambitious steamed sea bass or lobster thermidor.

“Whatever the dish, people will be supporting our volunteers who so often abandon their dinner tables to assist others in need.”

All proceeds from the campaign will help provide equipment and training for RNLI volunteers.

Supporters don’t have to eat at their own place to enjoy a fish supper ­– they can visit a campaign supporter’s eatery: a National Federation of Fish Friers fish and chip shop, a Vintage Inns pub or a Loch Fyne restaurant.

To request a free fundraising pack or obtain further information, visit www.RNLI.org/FishSupper

Events can be held at any time but donations should be sent in by November 26.