Poole guild, formed twelve years ago with ten members, now has a membership of 700 and since 1969 it has raised 63,000; the total last year exceeded 15,000. Members of the guild man both a lifeboat caravan on Poole Quay, which took £7,000 last summer, and also the old lifeboathouse museum on Fisherman's Quay, where £2,000 was taken. A committee of 12 led by their chairman, Mrs Margaret Adam, organises a wide variety of social events throughout the year, including an annual craft show, and a junior guild committee arranges a disco for young people during school holidays.

Hoylake station branch's intention at least to keep up with inflation in its fund raising took excellent practical form in 1980 when the amount raised, 10,074, almost doubled the 1979 figure.

Ilkeston branch in Derbyshire benefited from the generosity of Mr and Mrs G. Hibbert who were selling their house and moving from the district. A public sale of the surplus contents of the house fetched £1,257 which was presented to the local branch.

There is a small plot of land close to the lifeboathouse at Sennen Cove which belongs to Frank Taylor. It is not large enough to serve as a commercial car park but by an arrangement made nearly 20 years ago with the local lifeboat committee, a collecting box has been fixed to the wall next to a sign saying 'Parking free, but remember the lifeboat'. Well over £3,000 has been collected in this way so far, thanks to Mr Taylor's generosity.

Unwary visitors to Bosham, Sussex, are inclined to get their cars stuck in the mud with the tide coming in. Luckily for them, Shoreline member Mr F.

Mant has a son who has a tractor that can pull them out of trouble. Luckily for the RNLI the charge for this service is a donation of £5 to the lifeboats.

The difference between a large pot plant and a Christmas tree is £5 donated to the RNLI, according to Judy, Justin and Leo Brown of West London. This was the money they saved by not buying a tree; instead they put their presents round the pot plant and hung the baubles on the wall.

Customers at the Southern Belle in Gillingham High Street, Kent, were not satisfied with the £40 that was emptied from two lifeboat collecting boxes last Christmas. Box secretary, Mrs Mary Moody, and her assistant, Mrs Mary Atkins, were recalled the following month to discover that a further £90 had been contributed. Two elderly ladies have also done well in this district collecting £3.84'A , nearly all in halfpennies.

The United States 67th Air Rescue Recovery Service staged a simulated helicopter rescue in London for Ilford Ambulance Station social club. Members were then invited to visit the Service's air base at Woodbridge in Suffolk.

As a mark of appreciation the ambulancemen presented £100 to the Americans; as they could not accept the money themselves because of their military status the Americans flew a Jolly Green Giant helicopter to Aldeburgh and dropped a winchman in the sea who swam ashore and presented the cheque to the branch president, Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Mills, for the town's new lifeboat appeal.

Tradition dictates that the first purchaser of fish from the maiden catch of a new fishing boat should receive a new hat. This happened to Fred Paterson of Aberdeen when he paid £80 for a box of whiting caught by the brand new Sunbeam.

The £80 received was then generously handed over to Aith lifeboat station branch.

The Hastings local centre of the Institute of Bankers organised a tenmile walk between Bexhill and Hastings and back last October. As a result, at the centre's annual dinner, its president, John Holland, presented to John Atterton, RNLI deputy director, two cheques for £543, one each for Bexhill and Hastings branches.

The annual policeman's ball organised by the Anstruther section of Fife Constabulary made a profit of £230. A cheque for this amount was generously presented to William Muir, joint honorary secretary of Anstruther station branch, by Sergeant Ronnie Lambert; Brighton branch had a beautiful day on April 12 for its second annual dog show, held at Waterhall Playing Fields, Patcham; with a very good entry of more than 300 dogs, about £225 was raised. Profit on the 687 chocolate Easter eggs made in aid of the RNLI this year by Joyce Wells was £194.40.

The Swan Hotel at Southwold obtained a special gambling license and became a racecourse for an evening; Southwold and Dunwich branch organised a supper and set up the course on the dining room floor. Six model horses, each in its own lane, and two large dice to determine which horse moved and for how many squares were the main ingredients. Each horse was auctioned at the start of a race and given a name by its owner; a tote wasoperated for the punters. Winning owners received half the auction money and the sponsor money given by local businesses; backers received odds dependent on the popularity of their horses. That evening 140 people thoroughly enjoyed raising more than £400 for the RNLI.

When John Atterton, deputy director of the RNLI, was guest of honour at a social evening and supper arranged by Totteridge branch he was handed two cheques; one, for £2,500 raised by the branch during lifeboat week and one, for £100, given by the River Emergency Service in which the late Victor Ford, husband of Mrs Hilda Ford, president of the branch, served during World War II.

Dennis Best of Bristol saves money that he does not need to spend on parking because he is a disabled driver to give to the RNLI. His latest cheque was for £1.80.

At 84, Mrs Mary Vallance is the senior member of Burntisland, Fife, ladies' guild and approaches her local shops in an unusual way; on some days she tells them that she is in the business of selling, not buying, and takes around raffle tickets and her knitted goods to shopkeepers who are never known to turn her down. Honorary secretary, Mrs D. Mitchell, describes her guild as 'small but happy' and its income increases year by year with £610 being made in 1980.

Nordic Sea Angling Club, a group member of Shoreline, has presented a £50 fish-shaped cheque to Banbury branch in recognition of the work of the RNLI. No one from the club has needed its help yet, but that does not prevent them from appreciating all that lifeboatmen do for those in trouble at The Lady Mayoress of Coventry, Mrs Thomas McLatchie, was present at a coffee morning in Coventry Cathedral on February 11 organised by the ladies' guild. About 170 guild members attended and a grand total of £185 was raised.

To mark the anniversary of the grounding of Athina B on Brighton Beach and the rescue of her crew by Shoreham lifeboat, a party was arranged at the Concorde Restaurant last January by Mr B. Austen and Mr W. J. Croxford. The Mayor and Mayoress came, so did writer Margaret Powell, Coxswain Ken Voice of Shoreham, two groups—Salty Dog and the Taverners—and coastguards from Brighton among many others. A lifeboat film show included one taken by Mr Croxford of the Athina B incident.

Brighton branch ran a stall and there was also a raffle. In all £114.06 was raised, £89.06 being given to Shoreham and £25 to Newhaven station branches.Films of Rhyl, taken several years ago by Gordon Owen of Northwich, provided nostalgic moments for those people attending Rhyl lifeboat guild's coffee evening last February. Held at Colet House the occasion also provided stalls, raffles and games.

Lifeboat Queen, Hilary Williams, was among the guests and, thanks to the hosts, Mr and Mrs D. Anguige, £55 was raised.Many people attended West Wight ladies' guild coffee morning at the George Hotel, Yarmouth, where an exhibition of 'Island Glass' was staged by Michael Rayner; with the help of a raffle £194 was raised. A bridge evening and a cheese and wine party, both held at the Royal Solent Yacht Club, between them brought in a further £329.

Matlock and Bakewell claims to be one of the most inland branches in the country. It was formed 15 years ago in 1966, by coincidence just after Matlock itself had suffered severe flooding.

With the help of its chairman, Mrs Molly Wilkinson, honorary secretary, Mrs Marjorie Lang, and an enthusiastic and energetic committee, £10,700 has been raised during the branch's lifetime.

An impressive profit of £380 was made for the RNLI on a buffet luncheon organised by the newly formed Upper Deeside branch on February 1 at Deeside Lodge, Aboyne, the delightful home of Mrs Coppie Armour. A raffle followed, the prizes for which were presented by Lady Lyell.

A spring supper party in March brought in over £800 for Llantwit Major ladies' guild. It was held in the Tythe Barn at St Donat's Castle where the 11 guild members arranged masses of daffodils, bunting, RNLI flags, entertainment from a local group, a tombola, a champagne raffle and a delicious meal.

It was a very happy evening.For the past few years Forth Corinthian Yacht Club has handed over £100 to Dunbar branch at the dance which follows the annual Bass Rock race. The presentation, however, was missed in 1979, so the club decided to compensate by giving £200 in 1980. Dunbar branch also discovered the truth in the adage 'Where there's muck there's brass' when presented with £300 raised by East Lothian Junior Agricultural Club with a sponsored dung-spreading exercise on a local farm.

John and Pauline Milligan and their patrons have raised £197.14 for the RNLI as a result of a raffle at the Rose and Crown, St Albans, and the Falkland Arms, Oxon.

A sponsored bar billiards match at the Whitbread Jolly Sailor, Seasalter, between a home team and a team from Canterbury raised £567 towards Whitstable's new lifeboathouse. For the presentation of the money, Debbie, the 21-year-old daughter of landlords Ray and Pauline Price, made a cake decorated with marzipan and icing in the form of a pool table, a detachable metal cheque plate on its side. The whole cake was taken to Whitstable bank where the 'cheque' was removed and cancelled, then replaced on the cake. The cake was presented to the local Salvation Army children's home.

The children of Bradfield Primary School, Essex, organised a lifeboat fortnight from January 26 to February 6. A series of sales and raffles were held ending with a bring and buy sale for parents. The children also produced their own lifeboat comic and even made 'Lifeboat Club' badges for everyone who helped. They collected over 1,000 used postage stamps and amassed £32 as a result of their efforts..