The Grace Darling appeal Arabella and Martha Dancy, pupils at Putney High School, Lytton House, help to organise and took part in a Great Teddy Bear Contest in order to raise money for the appeal. The school hall was filled with 200 teddy bears, their owners gave a donation and the winning bears received certificates. A raffle was also organised and a grand total of £93.50 was achieved.

Jazz Band Ball Traditional jazz enthusiasts danced by candle light to the music of "Jay for Jazz" led by local cornet player John Timms at a Jazz Band Ball organised by Market Harborough ladies' guild at Kibworth Community Centre. More than 170 people enjoyed the supper dance, buying gifts and souvenirs and supporting the tombola for which prizes had been generously donated by several local shops and businesses. The happy evening raised over £870 for the RNLI.

A row for funds The annual sponsored row, organised by the Maldon Little Ship Club on behalf of Maldon and District branch, took place in strong winds and rain.

Fortunately the wind eased a little before the start and by setting a course mainly in the lee of the land it was possible to hold the event in safety. The two rescue boats on duty had nothing to do but cheer on the rowers of 31 craft of various kinds, powered by 50 people, as they set off to row the three-legged course. A silver trophy was awarded by the MLSC for the entry raising the greatest sponsorship, which this yearwas won by the team from The Bell public house at Woodham Walter, who raised £300. Together with sponsorships, sales of souvenirs and catering, over £2,000 was achieved by the event.

Relay cycle ride The Wick Sea Cadets relay cycle ride from Land's End to John O'Groats resulted in over £1,000 being raised from sponsorship and donations en route and Wick branch benefited by £500. The sea cadets who took part were members of the corps who were the holders of the Colditz Shield and they hoped this effort would enable them to retain the title.

Old Father Thames Windsor Yacht Club is only a small Thames based motor cruiser club, but many of its members enjoy regular coastal cruising. During the winter season the club hold a number of dinners and it was decided that all profits from the first dinner of 1988 be donated to the RNLI, resulting in a generous cheque for £212 being sent to headquarters. It is planned to make the event a regular feature of the club's social calendar.

Cub package Following a visit to the Hastings lifeboat station cubs from the 5th Wallington Cub Pack held a "Lifeboat Evening" and raised £63 for the station.

Small but so willing The president of North Kessock branch, Margaret Paterson, received a call to visit her local primary school as the children had decided, without any help, to hold a sale in aid of the RNLI.

The mothers did some baking and the children sold it to each other! They alsosold comics and books and presented Mrs Paterson with a cheque for £53.

Skiing for money While working in Norway, Gavin Sears was a member of a team entered by BP Petroleum Development in a 21km cross country skiing marathon.

Sponsorship for Gavin was based on his personal achievement for firstly finishing and, secondly, an amount for every minute within his target time of three hours. As his personal finishing time was 2hr 42min, with a placing of 170 out of 285, and the team itself was first out of fifteen, Gavin was able to raise nearly £219 for the RNLI.

A busy time Pangbourne branch have had a busy but rewarding time lately. Mr Donald Boot decided to enter the New York marathon and, at the age of 53, completed the 26 mile course in 3 hours 49minutes. Local sponsorship raised £3,826, half of which went to the RNLI.

Mr and Mrs John Goldsmid, loaned a huge marquee to the branch for a demonstration of flower arrangements by "Constance Ladies" in the morning, a South American lunch and a lecture on Peru in the afternoon, resulting in £780 being raised for the RNLI and the Sue Ryder Homes. Finally, the Goringon- Thames branch of the Fire Service chose the RNLI to benefit from their annual ball and this raised £910. These three functions raised a total of £3,103, followed by a "blitz" on collecting boxes resulting in £926 being collected in January alone. The chairman of the branch, Lt Col Godfrey Pease, has been awarded a gold badge.

Shamrock support An advent function in aid of the new Howth lifeboat was organised in an Irish pub in Diisseldorf. The owner, Mr Braham Sutton, collected approximately IR£200 from the proceeds of a raffle together with 50 pfennigs from each glass of beer and coffee served. It is believed that this is the first time that fund raising for a particular boat in Ireland has taken place outside the country.

Generous charge The Ilfracombe lifeboat fund has benefited to the tune of £100 following a successful promotion at the South Western Electricity Board's Ilfracombe shop.

For the promotion SWEB promised to donate £1 to the RNLI for each of the first 100 customers making enquiries on the day using coupons from newspapers.

Ilfracombe ladies' guild set up a stall in the shop and raised £40 for their funds and Bruce Merrick, area manager for SWEB handed over the cheque to Mrs Nan Williams, chairman of the guild.

Half marathon walkers Alistair Littlejohn and Terry Lazenby, members of the Dollar and Muckhart branch, took part in the Falkirk half marathon and raised £109.

Far from the sea The village of Weston in North Hertfordshire is about as far from the sea as one can get but the 850 villagers have shown their interest in the RNLI by supporting fund raising events organised by the Weston branch. Keen members have arranged fun runs and a Guy Fawkes night which raised £2,000 and more events are planned this year.

Garden centre help Truro and district branch 'took over' the Carnon Downs garden centre last year. The RNLI flag was hoisted each day and collecting boxes were placed at strategic places throughout the year. A gala open day was organised in August, with over 20 stalls, raffles, games etc, and a jumble auction sale of gifts donated by friends of the branch boosted funds. With the help of the garden staff and support of the committee and friends a magnificent sum of approximately £3,195 was raised during 1987.

Reliable sources With the kind permission of the headmaster of Oundle School, the Stahl Theatre was used to stage a successful fashion show organised by the Oundle branch. Belmara of Oundle, in conjunction with Burtons, presented the show to a full house and the event raised £750.

Broadstone branch raised more than £6,000 in 1987. Their flag day and Christmas fair made more than £2,000 and other special events sponsored and well supported by members, such as coffee mornings, farmers' supper, strawberry tea and fashion show helped boost the final figure.

Save Waste and Gain Paper Skips were manned by Reading branch members for three months during 1987. The amount of waste paper collected wasthen recycled and the money raised was split between other charities manning the skips, with Reading branch receiving £284.

Members of Neston and Parkgate branch committee enjoyed bridge lessons given by Mr H Mulholland who gave his services free, raising £130 for lifeboat funds.

Members of Norwich ladies' guild and their guests enjoyed a dinner dance held at The Hotel Norwich where an excellent tombola and raffle enabled the guild to raise approximately £1,000.

This event was followed by the annual Christmas fair at the home of the branch president Viscountess Mackintosh of Halifax, where a further £837.67 was raised, a lovely ending to a very good year.

The small branch of Westerham had a successful 1987. Various fund raisingevents, a wine and cheese lunch, a valuation evening which raised £600, and a flag day all helped towards the £2,(X)()-plus sent to headquarters last year.

The generous sum of £160 was donated to the Llandovery branch by Mr J Jones who, together with six friends, undertook a sponsored cycle ride.

Taunton cider A cheque for £1,000 was recently presented to the RNLI in Jersey by Taunton Cider. All the cash raised came from a charity collection on the Somerset Cider Company's stand at the Jersey Expo exhibition.

Anthology The Leicester ladies' guild were recently honoured by the attendance of Michael Denison, CBE and his wife, Dulcie Gray, CBE who performed an anthology based on their careers. The event proved very popular and raised approximately £300 for the guild.

The Marlborough Club Last year the Marlborough Club of Didcot chose the RNLI as its charity of the year and raised £6,500 from a sponsored cycle ride at Easter and a darts marathon in October. They have now decided to extend their patronage for a further year with the intention of raising at least a further £3,500 to fund a D class lifeboat. Their first event this year was a sponsored coach pull around Didcot.

Rotarians help Following the appeal by the Sennen lifeboat committee for funds towards a new lifeboat, the Rotary Club of Truro undertook a sponsored walk from St Ives to St Just and raised £450.

An idea that twigged! Seven-year-old Robin Parsons is to blame for a population explosion in Bere Ferrers, a hamlet near Plymouth.

Robin kept two stick insects inside his mother's airing cupboard and they produced a surprise family of 90. But Robin, a member of Storm Force, was undaunted and decided to sell off the little insects at lOp each to raise money for the RNLI. His mother, Ann, a member of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society, says the stick insects are still laying eggs and more homes will be needed for the little twigs!.