Some w a y s of t i l l i n g t he c o f f e r s . . .

Pushing and pulling Although the new term was only days old, the youngsters at Fowey Community School were soon in action supporting the local community. Fifty-two Year Eight pupils and their teacher, Miss Annie Saunders, participated in a sponsored 'lifeboat push' in aid of Fowey lifeboat.

For two hours the 12-year-olds, working in teams, pushed a D class lifeboat round the school bus park. The fine weather made the push even harder work, and participants and spectators alike were grateful for the cooling drinks available from stalls manned by Fowey branch members.

Despite their aching limbs, the pupils were delighted when their final total of 74 laps (over eight miles) raised a splendid £300 towards the £500 required to install a radio in Fowey lifeboat house.

Coxswain Keith Stuart was equally thrilled with the amount raised and intends to mark the Institution's appreciation by placing a commemorative plaque in the boathouse.

Maiden bowls them over North London Area, assisted by Barnet branch and Elstree and Borehamwood branch, organised a highly successful evening at the Wyllyott Centre in Potters Bar.

More than 400 people welcomed Tracy Edwards MBE, skipper of Maiden in the 1989/90 Whitbread Round the World race.

After a wine reception Tracy entertained her audience with a lively lecture and slide presentation on the voyage and the evening raised over £4,000.

Safety in numbers! Western Geophysical/Shell UK have again presented three more donations to the RNLI, the results of a safety campaign involving crew members of three research vessels.

A donation of £10,000 was presented by the crew of Western Cove towards the upkeep and maintenance of Lerwick lifeboat station, a sum of £4,000 was presented by Western Challenger to cover the cost of new fuel storage tanks at Aberdeen and Western Reliance donated £10,000 towards the cost of the crew room at Teesmouth.

Buckets of money Visitors attending the Festival of Underwater Sport held at Crystal Palace in London were met on their arrival by a large contingent of members from the Lewisham branch who had arranged a bucket collection and an indoor souvenir stall.

Despite torrential rain and strong winds the branch raised over £3,000 in only two days.

Proud occasion After his unsuccessful campaign in 1988 to save Worthing's charming Victorian lifeboat house and turn it into a lifeboat museum, Rob Blann wrote a book about the deeds of 19th century local lifeboatmen. entitled 'A Town's Pride'.

Now, thanks to a unique cooperation between the author, a publican and the RNLI, the lives and times of those early lifeboat crews are commemorated pictorially in a permanent display within a pub, a pub now renamed 'A Town's Pride' after that book, which will support the work of the lifeboat service with raffles and other fund raising activities.

'A Town's Pride' was reviewed in the Autumn 1990 issue of The Lifeboat and all profits from sales will be donated to the RNLI.

Car wash marathon There were a lot of clean cars in Margate on February 24 after an eight-hour car wash marathon in a car park next to the town's lifeboat station.

' Dez', a local young man in business on his own as 'Dez's Car Valeting Service', threw down a challenge that he could wash 40 cars in eight hours. Mrs Jackie Bowshell organised the event and cars were brought in by regular customers to a strict timetable.

The local fire service supplied the water from a fire appliance, music was provided by the local hospital radio station, and a hot food stall and an ice cream van catered for all tastes for the crowds attending.

The washing started at 9am and by midday the half-way target was reached. During the lunchtime break those present were enter- tained by the Margate Drum Majorettes, one hundred balloons were released and a raffle was drawn.

By 3pm Dez had washed 39 cars, mostly Jaguars, Mercedes, Porsches and even a couple of Rolls Royces, plus a few Ford Escorts and other smaller cars, and was appealing for more cars! By 3.45pm he had washed 45 cars - plus a passing police car and the fire engine! Money raised from the event totalled £ 1,318, and went towards the local appeal to raise £3,400 for a radio telephone to be fitted in the new Margate lifeboat, Leonard Ken!.

due on station later this year.

Branching out for the men Solihull ladies' guild, formed in 1964, was made into a branch in October last year, thus admitting men through its hallowed portals for the first time ! The fine tradition of fund raising set by the guild has been continued by the branch, so much so that since October no less than £8,533 has been raised.

Major fund raising events included a concert by the Chanterelle Choir which raised £200, the house-to-house collection and flag day £2,153 and Bob Tench, a committee member, successfully completed the London Marathon and added £160 to the coffers.

Walk this way...

The annual sponsored walk organised by Worthing branch from Splash Point along the seafront to Rustington and back, a total of 12 miles, resulted in £2,700 being raised by the 60 walkers who took pan.

Another fund raising event, the Broadwater Fair, realised £547 for the branch.

Arrows on target Shore helper and assistant winchmanot Hastbourne lifeboat. Da e Wood, and Da c Pocock. an Eastbourne I ishemian.

were successful contestants in the TV programme "Bullseyc". hich is due to he shoun in the autumn.

The u o Da es on various pri/e.s in the lead-up to the big pri/e - when a professional darts player throws the darts, and his points arc turned into astncirprolessior nil he scored 265 points. A cheque for lal amount in pounds was later pre- .Mited to Captain Shearer, honorary In brief FIVE years ago Hamish Fraser asked Lossiemouth ladies' guild to supply him with a collecting box to take to work on oil rig MCP 01 in the North Sea. Contributions which he and his workmates have made so far exceed a splendid £1,576.

A CHEQUE for £2,084.19 was presented to Newquay ladies" guild by Newquay Pearl, the money being raised during the past year by the organisation of several specialist events in aid of the RNLI. These events included a series of craft fayres, a balloon race during harbour day and a highly successful fashion week. The money raised by the events was added to the donations received from customers visiting the centre.

EVERY Christmas, Denmans Electrical, a Midlands-based firm with several branches, has a charity fund raising day and the staffs efforts are matched pound for pound by the company. The Dawley Telford branch chose to support the RNLI and presented cheques to the value of £430 to Wellington branch.

A CHEQUE for just over £ 117 has been presented to Bournemouth ladies' guild by PIP Printing, Bournemouth. The money was raised through a special Christmas card promotion with a percentage of the sales donated by customers to a charity of their choice.

THE ROYAL Mail chose Harwich as a launch pad for its new range of scientific achievement stamps and, as part of the celebrations, generously donated £500 to Harwich lifeboat.

AFTER an outstandingly successful year of fund raising in 1990. totalling £13.000, Broadstairs ladies' guild were able to make use of an empty shop in Harbour Street which the owner allowed to be used free of charge.

Bands of volunteers sold an astonishing array of 'nearly new' clothing and other articles and realised an encouraging £4.050.

SINCE 1980 Mr Peter Tully has organised the annual Paignton regatta week firework display and all collections made at each of these events, totalling over £9,000, have been donated to Paignton branch. A town historian, Mr Tully also gives talks on his specialised subject 'Old Paignton'. again donating all takings to the RNLI - a great supporter and friend of his local branch.

THE West Wight ladies' guild announced the very pleasing results of its fund raising efforts for 1990 with a total of £17,833 being forwarded to Headquarters. Sales of souvenirs and Christmas cards accounted for £6,614 and £4,312 was realised from the flag week collection.

TWO enterprising fund raising activities took place in Peacehaven last Christmas. The first involved the Shell Travellers Check service station where manageress, Juliet Clarke, arranged for her staff to dress up as Father Christmases. Armed with collecting boxes they persuaded customers to part with nearly £135 for Newhaven lifeboat. Further up the road, Ivan Gadd at the Telscombe Tavern, donned a lifejacket and oilskins and helped raise £128 in a raffle.

THE BOYS of Downside Lodge prepreparatory school in Purley supported a lifeboat week by having an introductory assembly and a gift and souvenir shop for three afternoons. Many excellent drawings, models and written work were produced and over £200 was raised for the RNLI.

Dry electric! Condensation in the boathouse at Penarth lifeboat station had been preventing the crew drying out their dry-suits properly, and the moisture was also spoiling some highly specialist equipment.

They knew a dehumidifier was the answer to their problems but did not have the funds to buy one. However South Wales Electricity answered an appeal for help by the Penarth branch and generously donated the appliance and organised its free installation.

The station honorary secretary, Captain Graham Sommerfield, commented 'We are so grateful for this kind donation Without the dehumidifier the crew would often be cold and wet even before they even set off on a mission. Now they will always have a warm start'.

All in a day's work A new committee was formed in the Acomb area of York in January of this year and is already enjoying great success with its fund raising efforts.

The members were very busy on 1 June when they held a grand tombola at the finish of the annual raft race in York. Having appealed for prizes from local traders, 150 very attractive items (all donated) were displayed, and £289 was raised.

Throughout the day a local video store in Acomb ran a small raffle, raising £61, and during the evening members were back raising funds through the sale of raffle tickets at Acomb working men's club, achieving a further £125. A great day for the new committee, resulting in a grand total of £475.

A fishy story Luncheon with a definitely fishy flavour was served by Rochdale Ladies' guild recently. All the dishes were fish based — except the desserts of course! — and were the brainchild of member Georgie Donnelly.

Guests were full of praise for the culinary delights, and the branch was able to add £527 to its funds.

Swimsafe On 1 April this year the Royal Life Saving Society and the RNLI launched their first partnered appeal to the general public - Swimsafe UK.

The appeal runs until the end of this year and is asking everyone in the country to take part in a sponsored swim. The appeal has two targets, the first is to celebrate the centenary of the lifesavers by swimming a lap of honour of 7,000 miles - the distance around the UK - and link every lifeguard club and lifeboat station with their dedicated volunteers.

The second target is to raise £500,000 to help support both organisations' committed volunteers.

One participant was Mrs Pat Scanlan, who had recently recovered from an operation to remove a spinal disc and decided to take up swimming to strengthen her back. She accepted the Swimsafe challenge and covered 45 lengths of the Blackpool Lido swimming baths to raise over £80 in sponsorship.

The appeal is being sponsored by British Gas and further details can be obtained from The Royal Life Saving Society UK at Mountbatten House, Studley, Warwickshire B80 7NN.

Under starter's orders The 24-hour Le Mans car race took place in two places this year - France and Beaminster in Dorset! The starting flag at the Dorset venue was dropped by the Institution's director, Brian Miles, and the Scalextric version of the annual marathon was on.

The race took place in the Greyhound Hotel and was organised by landlord Dave Mason. The tiny racing cars, operated by two sponsored five-men teams, zoomed around a 24-yard track competing for a trophy donated by Major Marques car restorers of Sherborne. The event raised more than £ 1,200 from sponsorship and a grand raffle.

Pictured at the start of the race are, standing left to right: Mr R. Vivian May, a member of the fund raising committee and deputy president of Bridport branch, the director and Mrs Joan Best, president of Beaminster branch. Kneeling left to right: Dave Mason and the two team captains, Dixie House and Dick Wetherden.

(Photo John Gurd Press Photography) In brief A PENTAX camera, donated by Boots the Chemists, was the first prize in the Christmas draw organised by Nottingham and District branch. The draw raised over £1,200 for lifeboat funds McEWAN'S and Stakis Hotels have donated £500 towards the cost of the new lifeboat station at Tobermory.

A CAKE made by Josephine McLaughlin was raffled at a function organised by Lough Swilly branch and raised £ 158.

MANY Rame branch members supported the Fashion Show specially staged by Kernow Mill in aid of the RNLI. With wine and cheese, an interesting floor show and raffle it proved to be a most successful event and raised over £250 for lifeboat funds.

THE Swanage lifeboat appeal received a boost when a cheque for nearly £14,000 was presented to Mike O'Sullivan, chairman of the appeal committee. The money was raised through a competition in the Civil Service Motoring Association magazine in conjuction with Frizzell Financial Services and will pay for the intercom system, propeller shafts and coupling to be fitted to the new Mersey class lifeboat Charles Brown.

THE SECOND snooker tournament held by Walton and Hersham branch in February netted a record £1,458 for the RNLI, exactly double the amount raised in the first tournament in 1990. Over 50 people entered the handicap event which was finally won by 14- year-old Scott Friedberg.

THE Wild Bunch Western Society in Milton Keynes raised £300 towards the cost of an echo sounder for the new Filey lifeboat. The money was raised by giving displays in full authentic western costumes.

Two Records The appeal week held in April by Crowborough branch increased its collection by 7% to £4,670.59. This was a very pleasing result particularly in respect of the village of Hartfield, which for a number of years has been organised by John Milner.

John, who retires this year due to ill health, managed to return a personal record of £348 from the small village.

Run for the boats! Three crew members of Hunstanton lifeboat undertook a sponsored run from Wells lifeboat station to Hunstanton and raised approximately £600.

First home was Michael Wallace, closely followed by Michael Derby and Michael Reed.

A lot of bottle! A fund raising evening at the Sun Inn, Llanengan, near Abersoch included the breaking of a bottle which contained £ 1,260.

This amount had been collected over the winter, with the proceeds of a weekly raffle also being added to the bottle. A cheque was presented to the Abersoch branch of the South Caernarvonshire ladies' guild.

Stalwart support Loughton and District branch was formed in 1977 and since that time has raised over £103,350. Percy Gibbs. now 90 years old, was one of those who volunteered to serve on the committee - and he has done so ever since.

His usual duty station at indoor events is manning the door to receive donations or admission money and he is always at Buckhurst Hill station during the morning rush hour on Lifeboat Day.

This year he put in a strenuous two hours raising over £65 towards the branch's record Lifeboat Week total of £4,825.

At a committee dinner held in his honour the day following his 90th birthday, Percy was told that the committee would like him to accept the role of branch president, and a commemorative plaque was presented to him to mark the occasion.

All in a row! Every year some of the Cullercoats ladies dress up in lifeboat gear, and sit in a row as though they are pulling a lifeboat. They then endure buckets of water thrown at them while a member of Cullercoats Club sings the Grace Darling song! Over the years the ladies have raised several thousands of pounds for the RNLI and this year the total collection in a two-hour session amounted to almost £400. This sum was made up to £500 by the club committee.

This annual endurance test is co-ordinated by Mrs K. Blackman and Mrs Bart Taylor with Mr Blackman usually singing the accompaniment! Romsey's key event More than 200 people attended the celebration of Romsey Branch's 21st Anniversary, held by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Trevor Harris in their garden at The Frenchies on Sunday 19 June.

The proceedings were opened by Fiona Richmond who cut the celebration cake and presented the raffle prizes. First prize was a helicopter ride won by Mrs Isobelle Flood.

Once her feet were back on firm ground she said she had thoroughly enjoyed the trip, which took her over Romsey town centre, the Broadlands Estate and her own home in North Baddesley.

The Michelmersh Silver Band provided excellent music, and entertainments included a competition in fly casting which was won by 13 year old Helen Carter. At the end of the day a total of £850 had been raised.

Record support Flag Day in Huntingdon and Godmanchester resulted in a record amount being collected for Huntingdon branch. The street collection raised £255.41 and the house-to-house collection realised £2,928.

The horse before the cart Websters Yorkshire Bitter has launched a national Shire Horse coastal tour to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first Lifeboat Saturday in Manchester.

The first Lifeboat Saturday, the forerunner of all charity street collections, featured Shire horses pulling two lifeboats through the streets, and this summer's tour is planned to raise £15,000 for the 27 lifeboat stations at the seaside towns to be visited.

Derek Hallworth, industrial organiser for the north is pictured aboard one of the touring drays, ready for the worst the seaside weather can throw at him! (Photo Paul Francis Photography) Food for thought A buffet lunch to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sutton-on-Sea and Trusthorpe ladies' guild was held at the Enterprise Club in March, attended by 72 supporters.

A special luncheon to celebrate 25 years of fund raising was organised in March by Sutton Coldf ield ladies' guild and 90 guests, including several past members, travelled long distances for the occasion. During its 25 years the guild has raised £132,613.

A luncheon held at 'Langton" proved a great success for Tunbridge Wells branch.

The weather was favourable for this outdoor function hosted by Mr and Mrs Graveney and some £674 was collected.

On the right track Mrs Eve West, chairman of the Alton branch, recently presented an RNLI shield to Mike Reitzler, licensee of the Railway Hotel, Alton and chairman of its Darts and Social Club The shield is awarded annually to a local public house which has raised the most money for the Institution during the past year.

The sum raised was just over £1,038 and brought the total for the Railway Hotel since 1982 to over £5,000.

Parlour Performers Following a letter in the Summer 1987 issue of The Lifeboat from John Anstey, a life governor of the RNLI and director of a group of singers called The Parlour Performers, the Bumpstead district branch 'booked' the group for a concert in 1988.

The singers give concerts of Victorian and Edwardian music and proved such a success that they were asked to return in 1989, in 1990 and yet again this year! Over the past four years the concerts have raised more than £ 1,300 and have become one of the highlights of the village year.

The Parlour Performers give their services free for charity and Bumpstead branch can recommend them highly.

Further information can be obtained from John Anstey, 31 Newbury Street, St Bartholomew's, London EC1A 7HU.

Horses for courses The fourth annual Minehead driving festival was held in May and spectators enjoyed the display of horses, drivers and carriages. More than £500 was collected during the day and the Minehead Ladies' guild was one of three charities to benefit from the collection.Shoreham success The 100th anniversary of the start of RNLI street collections was celebrated during the annual Shoreham Lifeboat Week, organised by the Shoreham and Lancing ladies' guild and Shoreham Harbour lifeboat society.

They had set a target of £5,000, the same amount that was raised in Manchester and Salford in 1891, and were delighted when a record £6,141 was collected.

Commemorating this historical event aroused considerable interest and media coverage, and while two lifeboats and three bands were used in Manchester, Shoreham managed with one lifeboat and two bands provided by TS Intrepid and TS Implacable, the Lancing and Littlehampton divisions of the Nautical Training Corps marching through the streets.

Make that donation worth even more! Don't forget that the Gift Aid scheme, which came into operation in October last year, enables the RNLI to increase the value of almost all single donations of £600 or more.

If the donor is an individual (or a company) and pays basic rate income tax the RNLI can claim back the tax already paid on that money from the Inland Revenue turning the donor's £600, for example, into £800 for the Institution.

This involves the donor in only a single signature on a simple form which any RNLI regional office, or headquarters, can supply. The scheme has already netted the lifeboat service a considerable extra sum of money.

Any branch which receives a gift or donation of this size and does not have the necessary forms should contact its regional office, or the headquarters Fund Raising Department, for advice on increasing the value of the donation even more - at the taxman's expense!..