Coffee mates Pupils from Derwentwater Infants School, all aged between five and six years old, ran a parents' coffee morning last November, baking cakes and serving their guests themselves. Parents jumped at the chance to be served by such tiny waiters and waitresses. The morning brought in £18, which was presented to Anne Alston, area organiser (north east) in the form of coins stuck on to a large cardboard cutout of a lifeboat.

Shelling out Spurning the more usual sponsored events, licensee of The Crown pub, Little Walden, Chris Oliver, and three of his regulars decided to collect personal and corporate pledges for a sponsored oyster eat-in. Starting at noon the quartet settled down to a one course meal of 50 oysters each, washed down with liberal quantities of champagne.

The event ended at 'last orders' and, with the help of the pub's normal trade and a souvenir stall set up by Saffron Walden branch, raised £1,600.27.

Quay of the Dory In celebration of the 21st anniversary of the Dell Quay Dory boat, Dell Quay Marine raffled a boat, engine and trailer in aid of the RNLI. The raffle was won by Mr Amy of Jersey who was presented with his prize outside RNLI headquarters in Poole. Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, director, was presented with a cheque for £3,000 by Arthur Moseley, chairman of Dell Quay Marine.

Inland cash Villagers from Hooe in East Sussex decided to revive the Hooe MichaelmasFair, an annual event which was last held in 1922. Regular planning meetings were held throughout 1986 and the hours of hard work were well repaid on a beautiful sunny September afternoon.

The village population swelled from 450 to over 3,000 with everyone enjoying the fun of the fair. The proceeds were divided between Hastings and Eastbourne stations, the coxswains of both lifeboats being presented with a cheque for £700.

Raffles, a barbecue, and sponsored dart contests helped The Windmill pub at Lye in the West Midlands raise £550 for Little and Broad Haven lifeboat station. Regular customers gave their wholehearted support to the events and were delighted to hear that the money would be put towards the cost of building an extension to the boathouse.

Charity ball A charity ball, organised by Mr and Mrs K. L. Hodson at the Chesterfield Hotel, Chesterfield, was so successful it is intended to make it an annual event.

The ball, held in December, was attended by the town's mayor, Councillor W. Smith JP, and his mayoress. The evening made £1,200 for the RNLI.

Life cycles Three pupils from Portsmouth Grammar School cycled over 350 miles to raise money for Portsmouth and Southsea ladies' guild. The three boys, Nicholas Green, David Gaymer-Derham and Tim Bates pedalled from Kenilworth near Birmingham, to Portsmouth. The ride took one week to complete, with one rest day near Coventry, and with an average of £1.75 being raised for each mile £615 was their grand total.

Brian Eaton from Winchcombe near Cheltenham decided to forsake the comforts of his armchair for two weeks in the saddle in an attempt to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats. Despite a minor accident and a few adventures along the way Mr Eaton completed the ride in just 13 days. Family, friends and colleagues sponsored him to the tune of £235 which Mr Eaton sent to Cheltenham branch.

Close shave A sponsored shave and fancy dress collections organised last summer by Roger Sargent, his sister and friends at the Fountain pub, West Mailing, raised £500 which was handed over to West Mailing and District branch. The branch itself made over £4,500 in 12 months from a fashion show, open days, coffee mornings and their street and house to house collections. In the nine years since the committee was appointed the Institution has received over £12,500, collected from six villages and one small town.

Open house An open day organised by sisters Agnes and Stephanie Hilhouse at theirhome with the help of members of West Drayton and Uxbridge branch, was attended by 123 visitors. A bring and buy stall was set up in the drawing room, brie a brae in the sitting room, second hand books in the spare bedroom and the breakfast room was used to serve morning coffee, ploughman's lunches and afternoon tea. Trying to escape into the garden was no use—a tent housed souvenirs, fruit and plants for sale and a fiendish competition of dropping coins into a tank of water in the hope of hitting the target and winning a prize.

TG tips The ladies of Rainham Afternoon Townswomen's Guild, all aged between 60 and 85, supported the RNLI during the last two years raising money mainly through coffee mornings and bazaars.

In 1985 they raised £150 and in 1986 increased that total by £100.

Coasting along David and Paul James, who are both members of Bridgnorth branch, walked the 270 miles of the Cornish coastal path to raise money for the Shropshire lifeboat appeal. Their walk started at Marsland Mouth on the north coast, ending at Plymouth on Navy Day.

Advance planning ensured that they always had a bed for the night, kindly arranged by all station honorary secretaries along the way, and David and Paul were also shown round the stations themselves and the lifeboats too. On the final day it was arranged that they should ride on Plymouth lifeboat into the dockyard where a rescue demonstration was to take place. Coxswain John Dare allowed them to stay on board during the demonstration which brought their walk to an exciting close.

The boys were well rewarded by their efforts with a total of £1,550 raised.

Concerted effort A bitter December rain storm failed to stop a large number of people converging on Ayton Church, Berwickshire for an RNLI carol concert organised by Duns branch which raised £1,200. The varied programme was conducted by Neil Butterworth, head of music at Napier College whose college brass ensemble accompanied the carols and played two specially written fanfares.

The children of Ayton charmed the congregation with their lively and enthusiastic performance, directed by Moyra Inglis. Berwick Arts Society Choir, under the leadership of Stewart McCormick and the Eyemouth Fishermen's Choir, led by their conductor Arthur Dougall sang a variety of songs and the organist for the congregational carol singing was Julian Bonia, who also played pieces by Vaughan Williams and Bach. The actor Robert Hardy held rapt attention with his readings of T. S.

Elliot's Journey of the Maji, the story of The Little Tumbler and William Douglas- Home's poem, The Llfeboatmen.Great success Lewisham branch is so successful at raising money through souvenir sales (over 60% of their total income is made in this way) that they now own two souvenir stalls, one for inside events, one for outdoors. To protect the stall and stock at some outdoor events it has been necessary for branch helpers to camp out overnight, not so bad on a nice summer weekend, but during the Clipper weekend in Greenwich last August Hurricane Charlie passed over the site! The branch raised £23,027 in 1986, £5,000 more than the previous year and a branch record. The committee even made arrangements for HMS Belfast, now a floating maritime museum on the Thames, to fly the RNLI ensign during lifeboat week in March, with the result that over one million commuters were able to see the RNLI flag flying from the main mast.

Thrifty supporters Men from RAF Kinloss and its Nimrod squadrons have always supported the RNLI in many ways, including the annual raft race at Findhorn whichattracts great interest each year. Not to be outdone the RAF wives who run the base thrift shop were pleased to include the RNLI in their list of charity donations for 1986. At a special coffee morning held in the station commander's home, Mrs Rosemary Leadbetter handed a cheque for £100 to local RNLI representative, Dr James Taylor.

Everything catered for A six month fund raising effort by staff of Kelvin Catering, including a group raising funds in the Falklands, concluded with a cheque for £10,000 handed over to Aberdeen branch. The money was made through a variety of activities including sponsored walks and slim-ins, with prizes awarded for best individual and group efforts. The best group was led by Kathleen Laing, manageress in Aberdeen of Marathon Oil's catering department, while the individual winner was Shona Osborne who works at Exxon Oilfins, Mossmorran.

Soft and strong . . .

Selected Co-operative stores in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex participated in a special promotion with Kimberly-Clark, makers of Kleenex Velvet Toilet Tissue whereby 1 pence was donated to the RNLI for every double roll sold. Such was the success of the appeal, a Co-Op Retail Aid promotion supported by High-Impact Technology, that a donation of over £2,500 was made to the Lowestoft lifeboat appeal.

Museum success In the centenary year of the Mexico disaster, the Lytham Lifeboat Museum received many visitors. A collecting box placed in the museum for the first time during the year made just short of £1,000 and local branch officials and the council have unanimously agreed that the collecting box should stay there.

The museum, on the A584, adjacent to the Lytham Windmill, will be open from Saturday May 23 to Sunday September 27, from 10 am to 4 pm every day except Monday and Friday, unless there is a bank holiday. Admission is free, for those who ignore the lifeboat collecting box, that is! Thanks Chatham branch was reformed in 1984 and, in spite of difficulties encountered due to a lack of committee members, it has been able to send cheques amounting to £8,650 to the south east regional office. Thanks are due to Leslie Ellis who gave a cheque for £570 to the branch in October last year made up from raffles and collections aboard MV Regina Rheni, cruising on the Rhine for Saga Holidays, and also to all the supporters and helpers who have given their time so freely during flag week.

Super-Marathon For the fourth year Weston financial branch organised a full and half marathon road race through Westonsuper- Mare. In those four years over £6,300 has been raised through sponsorship, the 1986 event making £2,000. A walking section has now been added and from this event a sponsored walk in April over the same course raised a further £600. The 1987 marathon will be held in September and entry details can be obtained from Dave Wallace, 31 Old Banwell Road, Locking, Avon.

Reliable sources Fashions from Marks and Spencers helped Plymouth and District North West Plymouth branch to raise £4,000.

The clothes formed a fashion spectacular held at the Theatre Royal in October last year.

The annual coffee morning run by the Dollar and Muckhart branch, Clackmannanshire, in November was very successful and raised £565. Another coffee morning followed two weeks later in Muckhart which included a cake and candy stall, a raffle, guess the doll's birthday competition and souvenir sales. A free draw was run for all the old age pensioners in Muckhart with the winner receiving a Christmas cake. This second coffee morning raised £450.

In 1986 Elstead Good Companions Club chose the RNLI as their charity of the year and after making and selling various items, and holding coffee mornings, the marvellous sum of £1,100 waspresented to Godalming branch.

Anstruther ladies guild celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1986 with a variety of special events. Well known band leader Jim MacLeod gave a concert; a prize draw was held; coffee mornings were organised and to wind up the year a silver jubilee dinner was attended by over 80 guild members. The guild donated £500 to the fund set aside for a new lifeboat at Anstruther. Miss H. M.

Watson has been president of the branch for the whole of the 25 years and at the guild's AGM in November last year she was presented with a specially embroidered sampler to mark her outstanding service.

Hitchin branch raised a magnificent £8,250 in 1986 bringing the total amount raised by the branch since its formation four years ago to £24,008. A further £812.05 had been credited to the branch during the year as a result of 112 new Shoreline members recruited in the area. Branch trophies were won by The Rose and Crown pub who were presented with the Russell trophy for the second year running for the largest amount raised in collecting boxes, and the charity shield was awarded to the Ship Inn, presented for exceptional efforts during the year. Regulars at the Ship Inn raised £2,938.58 by making two sponsored parachute jumps..