Runs for fun As part of their lifeboat day '85 Tighnabruaich and District guild organised a raft race fun run, when competitors had to wear fancy dress. The first prize was given to staff from the Royal Hotel who entered the race as royal babes dressed in nappies. The town's D class inflatable lifeboat was on display and ploughman's lunches were served in a garden with a beautiful view over the Kyles. With stalls, games and raffles the day raised over £2,250.

Another fancy dress fun run with office staff, shop assistants, police and security staff from three Arndale shopping centres taking part raised over £670 for the Institution. The three centres involved were Middle ton, Stretford and Manchester with those taking part running the miles between all three. The event was organised by Lawrence Allen, manager of Arndale Radio, an in-shopping centre radio service, and he was given great assistance by the three centre managers Arnold Wilcox-Wood, David Jones and Ron Hughes.

Darlington branch held their annual fun run at the end of March in which 70 people took part. The run, which was started by the Mayor and Mayoress of Darlington was along public footpaths through the area. Prizes on offer for the entrants were for the first woman to finish, the first man, the first under 21, the first under 12 and, last but not least, the first dog! The whole event raised £600 for branch funds.

Damsels in distress Shepton Mallet Lions Club held their annual Wings and Wheels weekend at the Royal Bath and West showground at the end of June. With proceeds expected to reach £3,000 over the two days, it was decided to put on a lifeboat demonstration in the main arena. Two crews from Weston-super-Mare lifeboat station manned display D class lifeboats, racing across a rather soggy showground to two damsels in difficulties on sailboards. The lifeboats were towed by Landrovers until they were 50 yards from the girls, when the boats were unhitched and manhandled the rest of the way. The two girls were then strapped into Neil Robertson stretchers and put aboard the lifeboats for the return journey. Thunder flashes and mini flares added realism to the race which was enjoyed by approximately 12,000 spectators.

The sky's the limit Two members of the Isla Valley Citizens Band Radio Club made a sponsored parachute jump from Strathallan airfield in aid of the Institution and the local cottage hospital.

Local businesses paid for the training expenses but, training completed, the actual jump had to be postponed for nearly two months due to bad weather; it eventually took place in December 1984. The two intrepid jumpers, Andy Gibson, CB nickname The Mad Medic, and Frazer McKenzie, The Bowler, both landed safely and collected £1,000 in sponsorship which was divided equally between the hospital and the Institution.

Maidstone traffic warden Tina Briggs, who normally keeps her feet firmly on double yellow lines, made a parachute jump for Sittingbourne branch and raised £140.80 in sponsorship money. The branch has many friends; the regular customers of the British Queen pub raised £424 in sevendays of activity when they organised a four-legged boat race, a sponsored hair cut and shave, competitions and raffles.

Food for thought A cordon bleu cookery demonstration, given by Mrs H. I. Cozens of Banbury, was organised by Northampton ladies' guild and held at Overstone Solarium near Northampton.

Such was the success of the day that over £1,020 was raised.

With help from Hampstead Vintners and the London Cheese Company, Hampstead Garden Suburb branch was able to raise £390 at their recent wine tasting and cheese evening. Not only did the wine company donate the winefor the evening, but they also arranged for Barrie Howe, from Laurent Perrier, to give a talk and film show on bottling champagne.

Home comforts Bristol ladies' guild held their biennial summer ball in July at the home of Sir John and Lady Wills at Langford Court, near Bristol. Four hundred guests dined in an elegant golden marquee, lit by chandeliers and decorated with baskets of flowers. Each lady was presented with a rose and souvenir programme on arrival. During the evening TV personality Leslie Crowther, a guest at the ball, was persuaded to auction a sailboard which had been donated by Flyers Ltd; the auction raised £550. The London band Chance provided music for dancing, backed up by the Mark Davis discotheque. By the end of a most memorable occasion a magnificent £17,000 had been raised.

A summer supper, held in June at the home of Mr R. Vivian May, a member of the RNLI's fund raising committee, was organised by Bridport branch. On a fine summer's evening 180 guests had drinks and supper in the house, barn hall and garden. Over £1,000 was raised during the supper which was enjoyed by all who attended.

Sheet House, the home of Sir Humphry and Lady Tollemache, was the venue for Petersfield branch's annual cocktail party held in June. The party was part of a month-long series of events in the area which also included the branch's flag day and house to house collections, which raised £1,900, and a souvenir stall at the HMS Mercury open day in July when £100 worth of souvenirs were sold. Sir Alec Rose was the guest of honour at the cocktail party which itself made £1,700.

Clouds with silver lining The weather often plays havoc with fund raising events with rain pouring down during garden fetes and shows. It is not often that the weather, or clouds to be more precise, actually make money for the RNLI. Charles Warner of the Hooke Institute for Atmospheric Research in Oxford wrote an article on stereo pair photographs of Cumulus clouds for Weather magazine; the article won the James Paton Memorial Prize of the Scottish branch of the Royal Meteorological Society. Mr Warner very generously sent his cash prize of £80 to RNLI headquarters.

Broad cast A cast of which Cecil B. de Mille would have been proud was involved in the Birmingham Stage School's production of Cinderella in January. The show was choreographed by Joyce Hart and her daughter Cherry, and needed a cast ranging in age from 2'/2 to 63 years.

After nine months of preparations and rehearsals, tickets for the show weresold out well in advance. Erdington branch member Jacky Clifford was in the cast as the front end of Daisy the Cow and also as a member of the larger than life dance troupe, Dame Dumpling and Her Suet Puddings. All the hard work and dedication certainly paid off because the school was able to present a cheque for £1,250 to Erdington branch.

Sponsored staying power Thirty-six members of the 58th Croydon girl guide company completed a seemingly impossible task for such a large number of girls - they kept silent for an hour. The silence was the idea of guide leader Deborah Carpenter, who is also a member of Shoreline. The girls made sure they kept quiet by doing their homework or reading. All the girls did very well, well enough to collected £220 in sponsorship money, plus £20 for the company to become a group member of Shoreline.

A slightly more arduous task was faced by 30 walkers taking part in the Lyke Wake Walk from Osmotherly to Ravenscar, across the North Yorkshire moors, a distance of 42 miles. To become members of the exclusive Lyke Wake club walkers must complete the course in 24 hours which, despite atrocious weather, the majority of them managed to do. Those taking part were backed up by a team of helpers dispensing tea, hamburgers, plasters and encouragement whenever required. The walkers found their own sponsors and raised an amount worthy of their efforts, £1,700, which was later handed over to Chesterfield branch.

The London Ambulance Service Benevolent Fund and the RNLI benefited jointly from a sponsored row by the staff of The Oval ambulance station in April. The row, made in two whalers kindly lent by the RNVR, started at HMS President on the Thames Embankment with a half-way break at the Thames Barrier at Woolwich. After a 30-minute rest the journey back to HMS President was begun against a very strong wind; some 20 miles had been covered by the end of the day. Of the sponsorship money, £677.44 was given to the Institution with the remaining £338.72 going to the LAS Benevolent Fund.

Douglas, Isle of Man, lifeboat crew member Colin Cain is a keen walker in his spare time and often takes part in walking races like the T.T. relay; his job as a postman keeps him in training.

When an island end-to-end walk was organised by the Boundary Harriers, Colin decided to enter to raise funds for Douglas lifeboat station. The walk began at 9 o'clock in the morning from the Point of Ayre, the Isle of Man's most northerly point. After walking 22 miles on a cold day with sleet showers Colin retired from the walk, but still earned £206, well over his estimate of £50.

Over 20 eager Beavers, the prescouts, took part in a sponsored sing forthe Institution. After a visit to RNLI headquarters where the boys were given a film show and a tour of the depot, one member of the Beaver Colony presented Ian Wallington, assistant appeals secretary, with a cheque for £30, the proceeds of their singing.

There cannot be many farmers who have celebrated their 61st birthday by doing a sponsored walk across Dartmoor from Chagford to Bridestowe, but that is exactly what Harold Phillips did in June, along with his wife and four companions. The walk was the brainchild of Mike Dunse, who was one of the walkers, the other three being Bob Cooke, Harold's wife Ann and Simon Tremain. An unusual way to celebrate a birthday, but a valuable one for the RNLI—it raised £220.

For the fourth year running Ideal Homes (Southern) pic have won the Woking Workout Sponsorship Trophy.

It is an annual competition with local firms taking part, each company finding family and friends of staff members participating to sponsor them and the money raised going to the Mayor's charity appeal. All the teams take part in a variety of events such as five-a-side football, volleyball and an obstacle course; teams are knocked out until there is a clear winner. Although Ideal Homes have never won the sporting competition they have won the prize for the most sponsorship money. In 1985 they raised £526 for the Mayor's selected charity—the RNLI.

Cricket cocktail Cricket and rum do not immediately spring to mind when selecting possible fund raising events, but a cocktail of the two made £330 for Colchester branch.

Members of the Colchester and District branch of the Submarine Old Comrades Association raised £250 during a charity cricket match held at Wivenhoe Cricket Club. In order to hand over the cheque in style it was decided to present it at a rum tasting evening. The rum was provided by Purser's Rum, suppliers to the Royal Navy, and sold at 40 pence a tot. Two of the association's officers dispensed the rum from a traditional barrel while dressed in period naval uniform. The evening itself made £80 which was added to the cricket score and presented to Colchester branch.

To the point East Anglian lifeboat stations have dependable friends in the Country Darts League, based around Debenham, Suffolk. In recent years money collected during their regular inter-pub darts matches has been given to Aideburgh, Cromer and Wells lifeboat stations.

In 1985 it was West Mersea's turn to benefit from the league's sterling support and on May 22 a cheque for £727.12 was presented to Robin Sharp, area organiser (Eastern).

Hot jazz Jazz buff and lifeboat supporter Perry Donsworth combined his two interests by organising an open air jazz concert at Framlingham Castle, Suffolk. It may have been a rather chilly evening but the music being played was certainly hot stuff. It even had the castle ghost rattling his chains. Framlingham and District branch gave help at the concert which raised £251.

Inn funds Regular customers at the Yacht Tavern, Ringsend, Dublin are very generous supporters of the RNLI. Since 1978 when a collecting box was first placed in the tavern, the Sunday morning collections among the regulars have raised over £1,400.

Battle of Britain aces versus the Fisherman? Not quite as confusing as it may sound. The Battle of Britain and The Fisherman were the two pubs who made it through to the final of an inter-pub pool competition. The ideawas the brainchild of Shoreline member, Dick Moore, licensee of The Fisherman. Twenty-two teams took part, all but one team coming from pubs managed on behalf of Mitchells and Butlers Brewery in Wolverhampton, who gave enthusiastic support throughout the competition. The team from the Battle of Britain won the final and after the trophies had been presented a cheque for £600, the proceeds of the competition, was handed over to Tony Guy, Wolverhampton branch president.

Attic auction Items ranging from kettles and toasters to record players and vases were up for grabs at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston guild's attic auction held in May at Martham village hall. Over 200 lots came under the hammer during the afternoon and the guild's total profit amounted to £350.

Pupil power As part of a project on the RNLI, class 3/7 of Thurso High School organised a variety of fund raising events for their local lifeboat station. A lifeboat teddy was made by Mrs Lyall, a member of the English department, and children had to guess his birthday; a quiz was held; a cake and candy stall was run during break periods and there was even sponsored surfing and football.

The efforts of the class were rewarded by a trip to Thurso lifeboat station where David Swanson, who had raised most money, presented the resulting cheque for £278.

Stamp brigade To work towards their service badge, members of the 17th Southampton Girl's Brigade have been collecting used postage stamps. When the girls, all aged between 5 and 7 years, have a large enough amount of stamps they take them to Calshot lifeboat station and hand them to the coxswain.

With a bang at Bangor An unusual event organised in Northern Ireland by the Strangford Lough Wildfowlers Association was a charity pigeon shoot held at Clandeboye, Bangor, in June. £500 was the upshot which was presented to Mrs Lynne Ralston, fund raising honorary secretary of Bangor branch, by the association's president, Major William Brownlow.

Hair raising How much is half a beard worth? When it belongs to Stephen Thomas of Claverham, Avon it is worth over £700, for that is how much was raised at a sponsored half beard cut. Of the money raised, £400 was sent to Padstow lifeboat station, with the remainder going to Falmouth and Penlee.

Reliable sources Gloucester branch has been beavering away throughout 1984 raising splendid sums of money from a very varied programme of events. Over £3,000 was raised by a barn dance and barbecue, now a regular event, a sponsored skittles match, a pig and cider evening and a Christmas raffle. The Mayor of Gloucester attended a fashion show at the Guildhall which brought in £250 and during the town's flag day over £1,885 was collected with the branch getting invaluable help from the local Round Table. On top of all this activity the branch's stall has been taken to many local events raising hundreds of pounds through souvenir sales.

Another Cathedral town giving the RNLI great support is Worcester. In the 25 years since the ladies' guild was formed, it has brought in thousands of pounds for lifeboats. In June and July this year the guild organised a souvenir sale raising £170.63, a luncheon making £630.44 and a strawberry tea which brought in a further £150. Added to these amounts was a further £2,255.23, already sent to the Midlands regional office.

Hitchin and District branch have been very busy in recent months: a summer barbecue held in a barn (due to bad weather) made £300. A coffee morning and evening at the home of Mrs Freda Jones raised a further £63. A souvenir stall and lifeboat model display brought in £165. With all the sterling work done by branch members, £1,000 was sent to the Eastern regional office bringing the total raised in the 2'/2 years since the branch was formed to £11,000.

Much industry must have preceded Moffat and Beattock guild's sale of work held on Easter Saturday. The sale, where cakes, jams, tea cosies, pin cushions and many other hand-made items were on offer, made £652. The guild was formed in 1956 and since then has raised almost £16,000 for the lifeboat service.

Since 1970 Arthur and Hilda Dudley, members of Mudeford guild, have organised a coffee morning in their beautiful and well-kept garden. In those 15 years over £2,200 has been raised. Sadly, a few weeks before this year's coffee morning, Arthur Dudley died, but Mrs Dudley was determined that the morning should go ahead as planned. It did, and raised £271. Other events organised by members of Mudeford guild have included a strawberry tea at the home of Mr and Mrs Ballard, raising £321, a party held in Miss Olive Gibbs' garden which raised £319, and a craft fair at Stanpit village hall which made a further £277.

Flag week opened with a thanksgiving service for lifeboat crews in Lewisham with crew members from Hastings in the congregation. At the end of a very successful week, Lewisham branch had collected £6,500.

Having provided the cost of the new 33ft Brede lifeboat for Invergordon, the residents of Nottingham once more dug deeply into their pockets for the town's flag day, donating a further £1,615 to the Institution, a record for the branch.

The cheque to help establish a crew facility and presented at the Invergordon naming ceremony (see Summer 1985 issue), was a generous gift from the Inner Wheel of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire..