Mr John Skellorn, of the Gravesend Sailing Club, gives a tip about raising money by paperboat racing.

He writes: 'As far as we know, only Belfleet yacht club and ourselves have organised paperboat racing. It started with two members of Benfleet club trying to find something to occupy them after their Christmas dinner, and deciding to produce a sailing model, without having to go outside in the cold to look for materials. Plenty of paper was to hand, and the idea of the paper yachts started there and then. Once the models were made, they had to be raced, and the hobby started to spread among the other members of the club.

One of our members is also a member at Benfleet, so the inter-club challengearose. There is great scope for experimental designs, but I feel that the idea should be encouraged to produce a 'restricted' class, with the hull limited to 12 inches, paper sails, timber spars, and thread rigging. If papier mache or resintreated paper is allowed, you can build a yacht which will compete with a shop built model on level terms, which is not the idea.' A plentiful supply of bones for dog food is always available at the Tenby and Sandersfoot branches of W. J.

Rowe & Son, family butchers. No charge is made for these juicy items in the canine diet, but pet owners areinvited to make a donation to the RNLI each time they collect a supply.

As a result the Tenby branch receives a considerable boost to its funds each year.

Organisers of Heworth ladies' lifeboat guild's sponsored walk round York's City Walls had a pleasant surprise in May when 81-year-old Miss Caroline Simpson turned up and asked: 'Can I join in too?' Miss Simpson, a former midwife who lives at Harrison's Alms Houses in York, completed a five-mile lap of the walls with ease—and counted the number of steps at the same time.

In all, 55 walkers took part, and raised £170 for the RNLI. This was £60 more than last year's figure.

The Exmouth and Budlcigh Salterton ladies' guild has a staunch supporter in Mrs Hicks-Sutton, for her fingers are busy all the year round making delightful Victorian pin cushions, the profit going each year to the local RNLI.

This year was her best ever and she raised the sum of £20.

Coffee parties have always been a popular fund-raising effort and a midsummer coffee evening given by Mrs Searle in St Albans is a good example.

Held annually, the evening raised £90 in 1971, nearly £200 in 1972 and £263 in 1973. Even allowing for a few items sold before and after the event, this must be something of a record for a coffee evening in a private house.

A Zulu, Arabian sheikhs, an assortment of jockeys, plus a ferocious looking band of buccaneers appeared in May on the Memorial Playing fields at Thatcham I —playing football. The fancy dressfootball match, in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, was organised by the regulars of the Black Horse, Thatcham, Berkshire. The lounge bar drinkers, of whom many have served in the Navy, got together a team called the Old Salts and threw down the gauntlet to the 'youngsters' who frequent the public bar. A crowd of about 150 people watched the Old Salts beaten 3-2 by the public bar team. The Newbury branch of the RNLI reports that the match and other fund raising schemes held at the time brought in nearly £50.

Mrs R. Hart, honorary secretary, Winscombe, Somerset, branch of the RNLI, wrote this year: 'Unknown to us, one evening over the Christmas period, the daughter of one of our committee members decided to go carol singing locally. She went round accompanied by her dog, a small terrier, and presented me with a cheque for £3.25, the result of her venture. It was a jolly good effort.' The Rev. John Horton, husband of the Dringhouses Ladies' lifeboat guild secretary in York, has always been a stalwart supporter since the guild was formed and each year undertakes prodigious efforts with the annual collections. This year he has surpassed himself by far exceeding his previous efforts. Collecting at various points in York during the month of May, he himself raised £245.

The master of a cargo vessel recently experienced the worst weather of his career in the Bay of Biscay. On reaching calmer waters he mustered his crew and asked them if they had experienced anything like it before. In answer to a chorus of 'No', he took a collection for the RNLI which raised £17 for the Cockermouth guild.

A concert organised by the Port Talbot branch enabled a contribution of just over £1,000 to be made to the funds of the RNLI. The concert was given by Sir Geraint Evans for the Institution and also the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

A successful effort was held at Upper House, Wormbridge, Hereford, on June 16, in aid of the RNLI. A great attraction was over 50 pictures lent by members of the Kilpeck Art Club, and a voting competition was held to determine the three most popular pictures. The 1st Ewias Harold Guides' Company served refreshments and also organised raffles and competitions. A total of £30.50 was raised, bringing the total handed to the RNLI in the last three years to £175.40.

Artists showing and selling their pictures in old Portsmouth at the weekend have for a number of years given a percentage of their takings to the local branch of the RNLI.

Mr J. L. Tillett, of Thomas Tillett Ltd, jewellers, St Giles' Street, Norwich, writes: 'We have been advised that the manufacturer of the 9ct gold and enamel Oakley lifeboat charms is retiring, and there will therefore be no more produced.

He has 21 charms left and we would like to help him sell these, the price being £9 each.' More money was raised at both Whitby and Staithes and Runswick Bay lifeboat days this year than ever before.

Takings at Staithes were well in excess of £850, and at Whitby the final figure was £536.30.During Lifeboat Day at Newquay, Cornwall, Mrs Peters, wile of the Rev.

G. Peters, of the United Reformed Church, Newquay, sat in her wheel chair at the entrance to the church and collected £74.26 by the sale of flags. Mrs Peters has been confined to her wheel chair for the past five years.

The Shoreham ladies' lifeboat guild, under the chairmanship of Mrs M.

Sadler, has, since its formation three years ago, steadily increased its income, and since October last year has raised £1,000. At a recent wine and cheese party a cheque for this amount was presented to the station branch honorary secretary, Mr J. C. Harrison.

On the occasion of Horsham Flag Day a member of the committee, Mr K. K. Smith, who is a Merchant Navy officer, personally collected the sum of £118.41 during the day. This is most certainly a local record, and the branch is wondering how the record compares nationally.Last year the Aldeburgh branch held a successful raft race at Thorpeness in aid of the RNLI. The event was held again this year and resulted in a donation of £92.25 being made to the lifeboat funds. The local Young Conservative Group are consistent supporters of the RNLI and this brings their donations in the current financial year to a total of £119.25, the balance being raised by carolling. During 1971-72 the RNLI received £85.10 from the same group.

Wetherby County Primary School recently held a painting competition which was judged by Mrs J. M. Waring, chairman of Wetherby and Collinghamladies' lifeboat guild. The competition created a great deal of enthusiasm among the children. Mrs Motley, the teacher responsible for this, arranged for the pictures to be displayed in the exhibition room at the local library.

Navy Minister and Colchester M.P., Mr Anthony Buck, took a turn at the controls when he inspected the new ILB at West Mersea in May. Mr Buck paid a visit to the lifeboat station at the invitation of the Mersea Island and district branch of the RNLI. Mr Buck, incidentally, is patron of the branch.

It would be interesting to know how many MPs are actually associated with RNLI branches in this way.

West Mersea schoolchildren have collected £60 for the RNLI. For three years children at West Mersea County Primary School saved as much as possible, and in June they presented a cheque for that sum to Mr Peter French, coxswain of the Mersea ILB. The cheque was handed over by 11-year-olds Kevin Baldwin and Jacqueline Fahie.

The first-ever RNLI branch dinner of the Isles of Scilly took place earlier this year. The guest speaker was Lt- Cmdr. The Hon. Greville Howard, VRD, RNR, a vice-president of the RNLI, who heard Mr A. J. Jenkins, the honorary secretary, report that during 1972 the lifeboat was launched from St Mary's once every six weeks. £2,854 was raised from a population of 2,000.

Presentations were made to Dr W. D.

Bell, MRCS, LRCP, the retiring honorary secretary.

The Royal Navy came to Margate earlier this year when five members of the ship's company of the frigate HMS Leander were welcomed by the Mayor, Aid. Ernest Sheen, at the Town Hall.

Object of the exercise was to permit the Mayor as president of Margate branch of the RNLI to present to the ship's company of HMS Leander an illuminated dossier recording the rescues achieved by Margate ILB since it was given to the Margate branch by the crew of the ship in 1969. While the ship was on duty in the Far East more than four years ago the crew raised £450 and it was decided to donate it to the Margate branch of the RNLI. This was how the town acquired its first ILB. The men also decided to adopt the boat to maintain liaison with Margate.

The fourth annual angling festival organised by the Elmore Angling Club at Lee-on-the-Solent was held this year and a record total of 830 anglers took part in the event, some of them coming from as far away as Falmouth. There were about 200 prizes given for the angling festival and the draw run in conjunction with it. In three weeks continued on page 6525,000 draw tickets were sold and £500 raised for the Gosport branch of the RNLI. Taking into account the money raised from the actual festival, the eventbrought in a grand total of £725 for lifeboat funds. Last year's event raised £220 for the RNLI. Two copies of Sir Alec Rose's book . fy Lively Lady were auctioned on behalf of the RNLI and fetched a total of £12.

The Hampshire Rose Appeal was successfully launched in May at the Portcreek water fair held at Hilsea, Portsbridge, by the appeal chairman, Sir Alec Rose. The first cheques handed over were: Mr Norman Kerslake, Managing Director, Aqua-Marine, £375; The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth.

£50; Mrs N. Proctor, chairman. Fareham Ladies' Circle, £50; Councillor E.

Barber, chairman, Fareham UDC, £150; and Alderman V. E. J. Neal, Deputy Mayor of Gosport, £50. Share certificates were also on sale at the fair together with a first day cover to commemorate the launching.

Mr F. Carl Seager, MBE, chairman, Reigate and Redhill branch, writes: 'A letter under the chairman's signature is sent to heads of schools in the area every September inviting them to suggest a date and time in the autumn or Easter term for a lifeboat talk with exciting colour films (incidentally, nearly all schools have a 16 mm projector and staff qualified to project). A class period or two successive periods are usually agreed, enthusiasm is aroused, 'Mums' swell the ranks of collectors! Invariably the school secretary arranges a sale of souvenirs after the committee member's visit..