There have been bonds between the police in Wolverhampton and the RNLI since 1863 when Captain Henry Segrave, the Chief Constable of Wolverhampton, was elected honorary secretary of the newly-formed Wolverhampton branch, and over the years other senior police officers have given their support. Now, early in 1981 Detective Sergeant Ken Lakin and his colleagues in the CID joined with Ken Head, the manager of the WhisperingWheels Rollerdrome, to raise money for the lifeboats. Piles of pennies were built on the bar counter at Birmingham Road Police Station and at the Rollerdrome; there were sponsored events, including roller skating round the park, and one way and another money poured in. At a social evening at the Whispering Wheels on October 16, a cheque for £1,500 was presented to Coxswain George Jeffs of Barmouth and members of his crew, which includes a former Birmingham Road 'bobby', Colin Pooler.

When the annual Fireball Class 24- hour race organised by Wembley Sailing Club was sailed on the Welsh Harp Reservoir last July, 30 people from ten of the teams of six were sponsored in aid of the RNLI. The sponsorship money was collected at the club's annual laying up supper and a cheque for £624 presented to Wembley branch's chairman, Geoffrey Chapman.

The race itself was won by a team from Datchet, but Wembley members took the next three places.

North Cotswold branch raised just over £700 for the RNLI last November at its annual coffee morning and sale at the Manor House Long Room, Moreton.

The coffee morning was attended by the Countess of Buchan, president of the branch, who made presentations to the retiring honorary secretary, Bill McCarthy, and his wife Ethel.

Little and Broad Haven ladies' guild leave no doubt that fund raising can be fun. Chips, stew and plum duff washed down with grog, hornpipes danced by local school children and sea shanties sung by crew members all contributed to the success of the guild's sea shanty supper which netted £274.21. A champagne morning raised another £206.54 while a barbecue and disco on the wedding day meant that £200 was promptly sent to the Lord Mayor of Cardiff's appeal for a new lifeboat to commemorate the Royal wedding. Members who served cream teas on Sunday afternoons throughout August raised £120, while a summer-long souvenir shop took £5,278.28.

Last autumn Littlehampton branch organised its first ever wine and cheese party. Held at the home of Mr and Mrs Philip Mitchell, it was attended by Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk, Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex and patron of Littlehampton branch. With the help of a raffle and an antique and bric-abrac stall, the evening resulted in a profit of £1,072 for branch funds.

Two Dover men, Mr D. Skelton and Mr B. T. Sackett, joined in a 10-mile fun run around Dover on July 1, 1981.

They presented their sponsorship money, £150, to Coxswain Anthony Hawkins for Dover lifeboat.

Mr and Mrs Cox, the landlord and his wife of The Umbrella Inn at Arle, Cheltenham, held a Captain Morgan's Rum promotion evening in December and raised £235.56 for the RNLI. Part of the fun was a fancy dress competition, the prizes for which were presented by Whitbreads Brewery.

One of Knebworth and District branch's annual events is a Christmas singalong and yuletide entertainment.

The bill last year included a 'Wizard Oz', French horn and viola solos, solo and choral songs from Welwyn Garden Music Society, handbell ringing by St Mary's Church bell ringers and even a 'potted panto parody' entitled 'Cinder- Alfred'. Last but by no means least, the audience themselves joined in singing carols. With the sale of tickets and a collection box £94.87 was raised and souvenirs worth £79.84 were sold. Anyone in the area who would like to help the branch would be most welcome.

Please write to the chairman, Mr F. E.

Entecott, 31 Hornbeam Spring, Knebworth, Hertfordshire, or telephone Stevenage 812213.The owners of the Penny Farthing Restaurant at Tailing End, Buckinghamshire, David Barnett and Austin Smith, very generously gave the profits on a dinner held there on January 12 to Fulmer and Iver branch. The dinner was well attended, despite appalling weather, and Raymond Baxter, chairman of the Public Relations Committee, kindly helped with the raffle. At the end of the evening the total amount raised was £431.75.

Hayling Island station and fund raising branches held a very successful barn dance last August at Crew Member Simon Wilson's fruit farm; the ladies provided a first-class salad supper and Crew Member Ross Fuller ran the bar.

Principal guests were Lt-Cdr John Lunch, a member of the Committee of Management and president of Hayling station branch, and Mrs Joy Lunch. A draw raised £104 and the overall profit from the evening was £600.Clevedon branch was re-formed last spring and, in August, with the help of its Shoreline members, the new committee raised £700 in its first lifeboat week. A cheese and wine party which followed produced a profit of an additional £150.

Another branch recently re-formed, at Watford, brought in £1,625.90 during its lifeboat week last October, with house-to-house and street collections and the sale of souvenirs. On the flag day itself the Mayor of Watford, Councillor Les Amy, came down to the shopping centre, where an Atlantic 21 rigid inflatable lifeboat was on display, to give his support and encouragement. To bring the total to more than £2,000 in one month, a jumble sale which raised £400 was also held in October.

There was a hen in Northern Ireland which laid a £1,000 egg for the RNLI . . . It was a happy fund-raising event known as the Hen Island Challenge Race and dreamed up by Dr Barry Bramwell, owner of the Daft Eddie tavern, Sketrick, and skipper of Inisharon.

to delight and tease his friends; it was held on October 10, 1981. All competing vessels had to be home built, costing no more than £20 in materials; they could be powered by any means except internal combustion engine or other infernal contraptions; the winner was to be the first vessel a member of whose crew touched Sketrick Causeway with his, or her, right hand (amputation to obtain an unsportsmanlike advantage was not allowed). The InternationalRegulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea applied; no acts of piracy were permitted and serious clodding was expressly discouraged. Even so, the race instructions said: 'The doers dare at their own risk'. After the race, the vessels were auctioned and the total of the lifeboat's nest egg amounted to £1,241.39, with a donation also going to the Ocean Youth Club.

Hurst Green and Villages branch.

East Sussex, which has only recently been founded, accepted the generous offer of Dr and Mrs Kruisinga Van Beek to hold a cheese and wine party at their home, Fontridge Manor, Etchingham, in October. A large number of raffle prizes were given, including an iced cake decorated as an RNLI flag, and this very enjoyable evening raised £346.92 for the lifeboats.After John Wright, a member of Rochdale Model Boat Club, had taken part in last year's Manchester Marathon he presented the £130 he had raised in sponsorship to Littleborough ladies' guild.

Seeking a new way to raise money for the lifeboats, some members of Emsworth Slipper Sailing Club kidnapped the landlady of the Black Boy in Fishbourne and held her at the club for a £10 ransom. The landlord came to the 'rescue' of his wife and paid the £10.

The club were matching this amount with another £10 when the bar staff of the Black Boy telephoned to say that they and their customers had collected a further £10. So. a bit of fun for everyone and £30 for the RNLI.

Following a balloon race, organized last summer by Whitbreads Brewery, a cheque for £508 was presented to the RNLI at Whitbreads' Southern Belle public house in Gillingham, Kent, on October 28, 1981; the presentation was made by Alan Cameron, chairman of Medway's Celtic Shipping Line. A raffle run during the evening raised another £227 and the winner of the first prize, a half gallon of whisky, was Gillingham branch assistant box secretary, Mrs Mary Atkins.

When Emma, William and Tom Brooks collect 'pennies for the guy', all the money they are given goes to Richmond- with-Kew branch; in 1980 they collected £14, in 1981 £20.97. The branch held its first sponsored knit-in last autumn, raising about £200. Wool left over was gathered up by a local hairdresser who invites clients to knit squares while their hair is being dried; eventually the squares will be made up into a bedspread and auctioned for the lifeboat service.West Street Garage Saab Centre, Fishguard, received a cheque from Buckingham Palace last November in payment for work undertaken by the garage on the state Rolls-Royce during the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The proprietor. Ray Putterill decided to donate the money, £40.25, to Fishguard lifeboat station.

Saltburn ladies' guild raffled a bottle of cognac kindly donated by Martell in November. With £195.55 taken on tickets and another £135.70 for refreshments on the day of the draw, £331.25 was raised for the RNLI.

News of a successful 1980/81 fundraising year comes in from all sides: Wells branch, which among its other activities manned the South West District's stall for one day at the Royal Bath and West Show for the first time, raised £2,314 during the year. The Bristol and District Fishponds branch raised £6.000 of which £615.83 came from tombolas with prizes of teddy bears and footballs. Wroxham and District branch, a small, hardworking committee, beat its previous record to raise more than £2,500.

Since its inaugural meeting last November, Bournville and District branch has already raised £600 and enrolled 61 members. Anyone in the area who would like to help is warmly invited to get in touch with the honorary secretary, Mrs Carolyn Gibbins, 8 Sycamore Road, Bournville, Birmingham.

Joan Manning, previously district organising secretary of the Midland Shires, gathered 14 ladies into her home last November for a sponsored knit-in, providing a ploughman's lunch for the occasion. £147.25 was raised for the RNLI and the squares will be made into a blanket to be given to an elderly lady in the area.

For the past six years Dame Elsie and Derry Abbot have held a bring and buy sale for Hampstead Garden Suburb branch at their home. Last November a splendid £122 was raised.

A wine and cheese party held at Blyth ladies' guild in the home of Brian and Eileen Gallon went with such a swing that the guests were reluctant to leave! And, when all expenses had been paid, this enjoyable evening had raised £426.57. A further £259.25 was brought in by Blyth's annual Christmas draw, for which there was a marvellous selection of 28 prizes.

Rochford and District (Essex) branch has only a small territory but nevertheless last year raised £1,400, trebling its previous total. One unexpected boost came from the eight Rochford pubs which organised a pram race on the Royal wedding day, raising £311 for the RNLI.

Party revellers at the annual lifeboat dance at William Penn School, Rickmansworth, last October reflected an international theme in their fancy dress.

While lands as far away as Japan and Mexico were represented, one guest wore a 200-year-old Welsh costume.

The £850 raised was shared between Chorleywood and Rickmansworth branch and the King George V Fund for Sailors.

Legends have built up at Southborough around a mythical 'lifeboat of Holden Pond', but the Friends of Southborough Lifeboat (FOSL) not only enjoy their make belief, they put it to practical use. Last autumn, at the Imperial public house, where the nucleus of FOSL meets, they presented to Southborough branch a cheque for £300 raised through a charity tennis match, a sponsored 20-mile walk, a car rally and a raffle.Over £370 was raised for the RNLI by a barn dance and supper held on November 20, 1981, by Sutton, Cheam and Worcester Park branch. It was attended by more than 180 guests including the Mayor and Mayoress of Sutton, Councillor and Mrs Keith Martin.

Godalming Youth Club, which has adopted the RNLI as its charity, has raised more than £2,000 for Newhaven lifeboat station.

Cardiff ladies' guild has had a highly successful 12 months during which it raised: £833 from three coffee mornings; £346 at a musical evening; £137 for afternoon teas at a Danish food demonstration; £2,438 from flag day collections; and £2,524 at the annual salmon luncheon at St Donat's Castle.

When the American yachting magazine Rudder reproduced a cartoon drawn by Bill Beavis which had first appeared in the British Motor Boat and Yachting, the fee of 25 dollars was donated to the RNLI at the request of M B and Y's editor, Alex McMullen..