Fund-raising branches and guilds throughout the country had very good results last year. Dundee branch increased its total by nearly 50 per cent to reach £15,800. the ladies' guild contributing £8,000 towards this sum; the guild, which was supported by crew members, their wives and members of the Royal Tay Yacht Club, had included in their programme a cocktail party at Glamis Castle. Sheringham ladies' guild raised a fine £9,191, while Dymchurch branch, which held a different fund-raising event each month, showed a 60 per cent increase by raising £2,000 from a population of only 2,400. A dance, a coffee morning, a regatta day, a hot-dog stall and a souvenir shop all helped Little and Broad Haven ladies' guild to amass £2,446. Among other events, Newport branch in Shropshire held a Thanksgiving Service followed by a luncheon and, later in the year, a cheese andwine party to boost its income to £1,500. Jack Puxty, chairman of Herne Bay branch, organised a sponsored row and contributed £676.36 to his branch's three month total of £2,181. Finally.

The Chilterns branch succeeded in doubling its 1978 result by raising £7,000 in 1979.

Glasgow has contributed more than one million pounds to the RNLI in the past five years. On one night last November the ladies' guild raised £519 with a bottle stall at the Clyde Cruising Club ball held at the Normandy Hotel, Renfrew, while on the same evening another ball, at the Plaza Ballroom, Glasgow, brought in £1,325. One Glasgow couple instructed their friends not to give them silver wedding anniversary presents but to give to the lifeboat service instead; £115 was raised as a result.

Aberdeen Lifeboat Ball, held at Skean Dhu Hotel, Dyce, on February 1, broke all records by producing £5,330 for branch funds. All tickets were sold within five days of invitations going out in the first week in December. £1,057 was raised by an auction, the highest bid, £210, being for a citrine pendant in nine carat gold with matching earrings. The following Sunday Aberdeen branch held its annual Lifeboat Service in the West Church of St Nicholas.

During the weeks before Christmas, the Albion Street branch of the Trustee Savings Bank in Leeds offered coffee to its customers free of charge, but all were encouraged to make a donation to the RNLI. An ILB and pictorial display were stationed in the banking hall and £225 was handed over as a result.The RNLI always has reason to be grateful to those publicans and their customers who raise and contribute funds; for instance at the Riverside Inn, Winchester, two long-standing customers, Fred Stanger and William Castle, sacrificed their dignity by taking part in a sponsored 'punk hair-do' and raised £61.50. Three regulars at the Gate Inn, Nether Whitacre, Jim Carroll, Roger Upton and Danny Wiggin.

lost 43 pounds in weight between them and gained £160 in sponsorship while Mr Waller, landlord at the Glen Public House, Glen Parva, Leicester, arranged two film evenings of famous boxing matches to produce £230 for theRNLI and a similar amount for a local children's home. The Ship Inn, Conyer Quay, Teynham, held its annual competitions on the adjacent mud flats and raised £1,000, twice the amount of its previous 'mud day'. The Houmet Tavern, Guernsey, totalled £1,139.43 last year in its collecting box which included proceeds from a sponsored walk and wheelbarrow race. Five years has seen more than £1,500 donated through the collecting box on the bar of The Swan Inn at Pangbourne, thanks to the landlord, Charles Spackman. And a barbecue organised by Mr and Mrs Foxon at the George and Dragon, Graveley, Hertfordshire, brought in £220.After a New Year's Eve party at Ballyholme, Northern Ireland, Mr G.

Crawford of Belfast was persuaded to take an unseasonal swim. His condition for doing so was that a minimum of £15 be given to the RNLI. He took his dip and £16 was duly raised.

A 'Fruits of Israel' cookery demonstration by Mrs Rosemary Cooke and Mrs Deirdre Bos from Gedney, near Spalding, raised £90.90 for Cromer lifeboat station.

The small but dedicated committee at Hampstead Garden Suburb raised £98 at a bring and buy sale at the house of Dame Elsie Abbot.A single coffee morning organised by Rustington and East Preston branch raised £400. The chairman and his wife, Mr and Mrs H. G. Carter, ran the event which included stalls and a raffle for a beautifully-dressed doll, which attracted £50.

Within the three months leading up to last Christmas, Mrs Anne Bennett of Crowborough sold £500 worth of RNLI Christmas cards and souvenirs.

A lesson in how to make money make money was given in Stonehaven when a competition to guess how much had been collected in a gallon whisky bottle was staged. The bottle contained £97.79, the guessing competition raised a further £23 and the winner of the prize (a bottle of whisky) returned it for auction to make a further £15.

Stonehaven ladies' guild has raised £4,000 through the year—a remarkable sum from a population of only 7,000.During the nine days of the Scottish Boat Show at Troon last October the local branch and ladies' guild raised more than £1,200 by selling souvenirs and manning the turnstiles; a percentage of all entrance money was given to the RNLI. The show was opened by Rear Admiral Wilfred Graham, director of the Institution.

Henry Cooper, former British and European heavyweight champion, was the principal guest at a summer dance held by Stourbridge branch at the Engine House, Tardybigge, where £500 was raised.

On January 18 Selsey lifeboat station was presented with a cheque for £ 1,260 by Mrs Joan Hilton, Chief Ranger, Court Sussex Elm, of the Independent Order of Foresters, after a year of fund raising on behalf of the RNLI.

The Merchant Navy College branch at Greenhithe, Kent, raised more than £1,300 during its first 12 months. The branch officials are members of staff and students, and all events, with the exception of a local house to house collection, were held in the college; they included a summer bazaar, a barn dance and a sponsored knit-in.

A sum of £161, was raised by Workington British Railway Staff Association Club at a charity show it organised on behalf of the RNLI, The Newtones, a local band, gave their services free for this occasion.

The three Rimmer sisters of Prescot doubled their previous year's donation when they raised £200 at an afternoon tea at their home in September. A bring and buy stall, a treasure hunt and a raffle helped to swell the total, but the home-made 'goodies' for which the sisters are famous were the real attraction of the afternoon.Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club presented a cheque for £1,000 to Harwich lifeboat coxswain, Peter Burwood, which was the result of its fund-raising efforts throughout 1979. Meanwhile, Himley Hall Sailing Club, Dudley, organised its annual sponsored sail at Himley Park and presented £1,800 to the RNLI; this event has raised over £5,500 for the lifeboats in four years.

Reigate and Redhill branch was able to announce at its AGM that a record of £6,000 had been raised in 1979. A painting of the Brighton Atlantic 21 has been presented by its artist J. D. Reeve, Brighton Harbour Master, to George Hodgkins, Reigate and Redhill president, who has contributed a very large proportion of the cost of establishing this boat at Brighton.

A small garden party was held at the home of J. R. Burt, chairman of Pinner branch, during last summer. No entrance fee was charged but with ploughman's lunches, sideshows and souvenirs £164 was raised. Among the competitions was one to see who could gather the highest number of pegs in one hand from a clothes line.

Richard and Sue Godwin opened up the Overton Hotel, Cheltenham, for a New Year's Eve RNLI party, making no charge except for the food at cost price and donating all bar profits. After a super evening, a cheque for £500 was presented to Cheltenham branch.

Twenty-six 13th Torbay (Churston Galmpton) Cub Scouts, aged 8 to 11, handed Captain Barry Anderson, Tor-bay station honorary secretary, £50 they had raised by a five-mile sponsored walk, from Galmpton to Dartmouth via Dittisham, and a beetle drive. The cubs have raised £227 for Torbay lifeboat in the past five years.

A team was entered from the RNLI Cowes Base for Shanklin and District Round Table's Christmas cracker race last December. A mixed team of six, with Chris Powell as cracker captain, carried a 13ft long by 3ft 6in diameter cracker along the 11 kilometres of roads and woodland between Shanklin and Ventnor, raising £25 from their sponsors for the Institution..