IN PICTURES: Thousands attend Teddington RNLI’s Open Day and Duck Race
By Tilly O'Brien 1st Jun 2026
Thousands of people showed up for Teddington RNLI's Open Day and Duck Race yesterday (Sunday, 31 May).
Running from 12pm - 4pm and organised by Teddington Together, the day saw 3,500 duck tickets sold, being a huge step up from the 1,500 sold last year.
Kicking things off, the new Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Thay Thayalan welcomed guests with a speech thanking the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for its hard work saving lives at sea.
Cllr Thayalan said: "The RNLI is one of the most respected charities. Since its foundation in 1824, lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 146,000 lives. Today it operates 238 lifeboat stations and hundreds of lifeguard units around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
"Yet what makes the RNLI truly remarkable is that it receives no government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of the public.
"Here in Teddington, we are fortunate to have a team of around 30 active crew members and volunteers who give their time, skills and commitment to keep people safe on the River Thames.
"They stand ready to respond at any hour of the day or night, demonstrating courage, professionalism and public service of the highest order."
Throughout the day, attendees could enjoy food and drinks from The Wharf, The Anglers, Wafflelicious, Shambles, Graze & Coe, Ruba, and an ice cream van, as well as tea and coffee available in the lifeboat station hall.
Various local businesses and organisations also hosted stalls, including Teddington Society and local campaign group Save Our Land and River (SOLAR) which reminded people to sign its e-petition against Thames Water's Teddington Direct River Abstraction project.
Inside the Boat Hall, guests could also ask the RNLI's crew members any questions and take a look at the kit.
One of the station's lifeboats and tractors stood in the event area throughout the day, which saw the little ones climbing onto.
Moreover, the London Fire Brigade stationed a fire engine for guests to look at and the London Ambulance Service set up a stall teaching kids how to perform CPR.
Throughout the day, various activities were available for attendees to enjoy, including a 'Human Fruit Machine', hosted by the Teddington and Hampton Rotary Club, and "gory" face painting.
At 12.30pm was the now infamous duck race, which saw 3,500 ducks launched into the Thames and floating toward the finish line.
This was followed by the business duck race at 1.15pm which included larger rubber ducks all dresssed up by 66 local businesses, and saw Teddington Arms' duck crossing the finish line first.
There was an online competition for the best dressed duck and the winner will be announced at 12pm today (Monday, 1 June), so keep an eye out for the announcement on Teddington RNLI's socials.
Announcing the winners of the duck race and the prizes, gifted from various local businesses like The Lensbury, was the Lib Dem Leader, Sir Ed Davey, who brought his family along to enjoy the day.
Also in attendance was Richmond Council's leader Cllr Gareth Roberts.
And from 1pm, guests could watch on-the-water demonstrations carried out by Teddington RNLI crew members.
Speaking about the day, the Chair of the Lifeboat Managment Group at the Teddington RNLI Lifeboat Station, Paul Corbin said: "I just want to say thank you very much to all of the stall holders, the organisations that have turned up, they are an ally themselves.
"And thank you to everybody who's been involved in today's event. It's a really good way of ensuring that people in the community know that we have a lightboat station here and a little bit about what the lifeboat station actually does.
"It's really important because our mission is to save lives at sea, but we're on a river, which is kind of different, but we still have some issues with regard to people getting into trouble in the water, and our job is to make the most of getting them back to safety."
Mel Franke of Teddington Together added: "Thank you to everyone who showed up today.
"I'd also like to give a huge thank you to Howard from the Boat Shop on Ferry Road as without him, this wouldn't happen, Ian Parkinson and all his kayakers for collecting the ducks from the river, Ben from Cafe Benedict's for offering his boat, and to MVS *Maritime Volunteer Service Kingston) with their blue light boat because without them, we wouldn't be able to launch all these ducks."
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