In Brief TO MARK his 50th birthday, Vincent Magrath of Tarn worth asked that instead of presents his fellow Rotarians and friends give their money to the RNLI. Chairman of Tamworth ladies' guild, Marion Appleby- Matthews, was invited to Vincent's birthday party and was presented with a cheque for £516.

LOCALS and regulars at the Black Horse public house in Tunbridge Wells have been busy raising money and George Johnstone, organiser of the weekly tote, handed over a cheque for £1,270.79 to Kathy Hubbard, area organiser for the South East.

INOCTOBER1991 the Thetford branch was reformed, and in less than a year the revenue was treble that of the previous branch. A very successful flag day and various fundraising events resulted in £1,500, and the RNLI flag is kept flying in the Thetford area.

A FLOAT which Mrs D. Chandler entered in Exmouth's local carnival procession last summer won a highly commended certificate and collected the most money - approximately £250, half of which was donated to the RNLI. (The float is available on loan to other RNLI branches and guilds, enquiries via the Editor please) SIR DAVID and Lady Mackworth kindly provided their garden for a successful coffee morning and market last August on behalf of the Hayling Island branch. Lady Mackworth's enthusiasm enabled her to recruit the help of family and friends, raising £692. In addition £243 worth of souvenirs and Christmas cards were sold to the 300 guests.

LAST summer was a busy one for Walton and Frinton ladies' guild- a coffee morning held at the home of Mr and Mrs Harry Stokes raised £227 and a stand at a country fayre over the August bank holiday weekend produced a total of £300, despite the bad weather and the danger of the marquee blowing away! The guild were also given the use of a shop in Frinton-on-Sea for lifeboat week and sold souvenirs and handicrafts amounting to £1,445.

AN UNUSUAL fundraising idea first reported in this magazine a few years ago, was taken up by Woodbridge and District branch last summer. With the support of Mike Coleman, landlord of the Plough Inn, Sutton, raffle tickets enabled supporters to buy a plot in the field at the back of the pub.

A cow, provided by Sir Anthony Quilter of Sutton Hall, was let loose although it was a nail-biting hour later that she fertilised the winning plot! RNLI funds benefitted by £1,203.

AN EMERGENCY services day at Llandudno saw fifteen services parade along the promenade, enabling the public to see them all in action. The day ended with a lifeboat/helicopter exercise and £1,200 was added to the Llandudno ladies' guild funds. During the afternoon Llandudno Sailing Club presented Richard Polden, deputy regional organiser for Wales, with a cheque for £150.For the past 16 years the Tal-y-Llyn Railway Company, one of the famous Great Little Railways of Wales, has allowed the Tywyn branch to run a special summer evening train - which is pictured here at Abergynolwyn station last July.

The Powys Male Voice Choir, under the direction of Tecwyn Jones, sang for the passengers who made the special journey to the station to hear the glorious sound of Welsh voices set in the beauty of the Snowdonia National Park Since its inception this annual event has raised more than £5,000 for the RNLI.Little and large Flag day dawned cloudy for the Appledore branch and soon developed into rain, which plagued most of their summer activities.

However, all was not lost. Their star supporter, chairbound Mandy Parsons, was fighting fit and determined to break her fundraising record. Patrolling the promenade at Instow in her wheelchair until 9.30pm she managed to raise an amazing £172.58 towards the overall total of £2,266.

Appledore's rescue demonstration included the launch of a radio- controlled model of the Tyne class George Gibson from the slipway. 'Little George' was built by Terry Amey, who sailed it alongside the full-size boat. A cheque was later presented to Appledore branch by Mr Amey.

Dinghies go a-Rovering A group of businessmen 'dinghied' non stop from Calais to Marseille to raise more than £9,000 for the RNLI.

The businessmen, all regulars at The Fleece Inn, Holme, near Huddersfield, covered 850 miles and negotiated 214 canal locks.

Land Rover Finance provided them with a Land Rover Discovery to act as a backup and team support vehicle during the four-day event.

Busy St Bees The ladies' guild at St Bees is proud to have a lifeboat station in their village, and the gala the ladies organised for Sunday 12 July was planned to be the biggest ever.

For weeks beforehand the sun shone and fingers were crossed, but faces fell on Saturday 11 July in the rain and gale force winds. Sunday morning fared little better, and stalls were set up as a Force 6 wind whipped the canopies. However, as the morning progressed the weather relented and by the time the exercise with Workington and St Bees lifeboats was in full swing, the sun was shining.

Children were bouncing on the bouncy castle, the fortune teller never stopped, the bands played, the dancers danced, ice cream cornets were licked and excited children watched the magician perform his magic. It was quite a day after all and resulted in £2,500 being raised for the hardworking ladies of the guild.

Heavy work! During Upminster branch's 1992 Lifeboat Week Terry Wiffen collected £691.92 - including £225.10 on lifeboat day itself, of which £119.93 was in just one box! A Lifeboat Week helper for many years, Terry uses some of his holiday and has in the last four years collected the remarkable sum of £2,501.Memorial run The Craven Old Wheels Society's second annual Skipton to Whitby run in aid of the RNLI took place in June.

Last year's event was dedicated to the memory of the late regional organiser Brian Stevenson, with whom both the Whitby lifeboat station and the society had had a long and warm relationship.

The event was sponsored by Great Mills Stores and realised £560.

While on his way to join the rest of the Craven Old Wheels Society on their historic vehicle run and display, Norman Cawood, driving a 1922 American Overland, was surprised and not a little alarmed when his journey was interrupted by a car which overtook and then abruptly braked in front of him. A very large man emerged and stalked up to the open car, thrust a £20 note into Mr Cawood's hand, saying he should add it to the collection for the RNLI! Promises, promises...

Promises helped to raise £1,600 for the Welshpool and District ladies' guild.

At a cheese and wine evening auctioneer Jim Evans, husband of the guild's chairman, proved very persuasive in extracting such an impressive sum from the audience. Members and friends had promised anything from baby-sitting to flights over Welshpool, from cake-making to champagne, and the generous bidding turned all the promises into hard cash.Stacey's swim Twelve-year-old Stacey Kidd from Ashford in Kent has taken part in Swimsafe UK for the second year running, raising approximately £40 for the lifeboat service.

At the start of Swimsaf e 91 Stacey could swim just over a length, but through sheer determination and hard work she improved her performance by completing 44 lengths and raising £32 in sponsorship.

For Swimsafe 92 Stacey excelled herself by completing 74 lengths (just over a mile) in 80 minutes - only stopping because the pool was closing. Stacey's parents are members of Ashford branch.South West Lifeboat Tattoo Antony House, Torpoint was a magnificent venue for the first Lifeboat Tattoo on 5 September 1992.

It had taken the organising committee from Rame Peninsula branch two years to plan and sighs of relief were heard all over Cornwall and Devon when the day dawned bright and fair! With the arrival in the arena of Ian Stirling aboard Pirate FM Radio's helicopter the Tattoo got underway, with the children's nautical fancy dress parade the first event into the arena, followed by many varied displays. The Cornwall Fire Brigade gave an impressive display, the Royal Marines free-fall parachute team caused great excitement and ratings from HMS Raleigh provided a boat rigging display and competition.

Apart from arena events there were exhibits, arts and crafts, services displays and stands, pony rides and catering - all contributing to a happy afternoon for visitors.

The culmination of the Tattoo was the moving ceremony of beating retreat by the Band of HM Royal Marines Flag Officer Plymouth, during which the band provided the first public performance of the new RNLI march The Lifeboatmen', commissioned by the Rame Peninsula branch. The composer, Trevor Brown of the Royal Marines School of Music, presented a framed plaque containing the music to Brian Williams, branch chairman, who will present it to the RNLI's committee of management for future use of the Institution and all lifeboatmen. (A recording of the march will be available later in the year - details in a later issue) Judging by letters and calls to the organisers the Tattoo was greatly enjoyed and will long be remembered.Youthful enthusiasm Talented nine-year-old Robert Charlton of Beaumaris has raised more than £80 for the RNLI with his model lifeboat made out of cardboard.

Robert has a special reason for supporting the lifeboat service. His father, Keith, is helmsman of Beaumaris lifeboat and his late 19-year-old brother Darren was a crew member of that boat.

Robert's aim was to fill the model boat with coins and, together with a raffle, he collected a magnificent£82.50.

His model went on show during Beaumaris lifeboat day at the end of August but unfortunately wet weather meant Robert's model had to be dismantled when the rain made his creation distinctly soggy round the edges! Hawthorns Preparatory School decided to have a Thanksgiving Service and donated £203.80 to lifeboat funds.

The First School at Betchworth Village has only 40 pupils, some of whom visited Cornwall and saw a lifeboat last summer, but their sponsored stamp collecting exercise before the Harvest Festival raised £119 for the lifeboats. Twenty-five schools in Reigate and Redhill branch area regularly see RNLI videos and buy souvenirs.Optional assistance Thanks to readers of THE LIFEBOAT, voluntary workers, readers of the CSMA magazine Motoring and Leisure, Royal Bank of Scotland Mastercard holders and many others - not to mention the staff of the RNLI Central Fundraising department who have counted the BP Option vouchers - the first Resusci Ann torso has been obtained for crews to use for resuscitation training purposes.

It took 15,000 vouchers to obtain Resusci Ann Mk 1 and II and we are well on the way to obtaining Mk III.

Please continue to send your unwanted vouchers to Gill Cull, Central Fundraising Department, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ.

Reborn and revitalised Since its rebirth in 1988 the Plympton branch has encountered its share of problems such that only three of the original committee members remain.

However over the past two years a number of younger committee members have been recruited, and the branch is now beginning to benefit from their youth and vigour.

A fashion show organised recently by a young lady member raised well in excess of £400, and proved so popular that it may become an annual event.

The Soapy Suds David Lewis and Michael Stone from Penclawdd, Swansea, both members of the RNLI's Storm Force junior membership scheme , decided to raise money for the RNLI. Enlisting the help of three friends, Glenn Vaughan, Paul Phillips and Adam Thomas, they formed a group of car washers called The Soapy Suds.

After two weeks of washing cars at 50p per car, including the local ice cream van 'Alan the Icecream' (who gave them a bonus of ices and lollies) the hardworking lads raised £42.50 to be put to use in 'providing new lifeboat technology'.

Locks of money! David Groom had been growing his hair and beard for over 35 years, and when he decided to have it all taken off for charity he had no doubts about which one should benefit! The licensees of the Wig and Fidgett in Boxted, Colchester, organised a fundraising evening for Colchester branch during which Mr Groom was shaved and shorn of his locks by hairdresser Sarah Youngman.

Together with sponsorship money obtained by David the evening's fun resulted in just over £390 being raised for the lifeboat service.In Brief THE ANNUAL Cherbourg Rally held by the Backwell and District branch raised just over £520 - a record for the event. With the permission of P&O ferries Volvo draw tickets were sold to passengers and crew of the Pride of Cherbourg . Much publicity for the work of the Institution was given by the Master (Captain Walford) who addressed the passengers over the PA system. The shore-support committee members remained at Camper and Nicholsons marina in Gosport and were invited by the manager, Norman Collins, to sell tickets to the yachtsmen there.

THE ANCHOR Inn, Oldbury-on-Severn was the venue for an annual supper and raffle held in aid of the RNLI. The organiser, Philip Jones, a local salmon fisherman, presented Keith Graham, coxswain of Exmouth lifeboat with a cheque for £459 for the Exmouth branch and thanks were given to the proprietor of the inn, Mr MJ.

Dowsdeswell and his staff, for their continuing help and support. £40.50 was also raised when Dave Bennett guessed the weight of the first salmon taken out of the river Severn last season and donated the proceeds to the Thornbury branch.

A RECORD flag day collection of £12,020.87 has been reported by Eastbourne branch.

MEMBERS of Nuneaton branch attended the local fire station's open day and with the aid of a publicity boat sales of souvenirs and Volvo raffle tickets raised over £415.

THE READING branch of the British Sub- Aqua Club raised £500 from its annual three-mile sponsored swim down the River Thames. The money will be used to help cover the maintenance of the four lifeboats funded by the British Sub-Aqua Club.

DESPITE uncertain weather the crowds came to the annual harbour fete and the ladies of North Sunderland guild were well pleased with the resulting £10,644 which was raised. Viscount Ridley KG, Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland, opened the fete and was presented with a salmon from young Rebecca, daughter of crew member Michael Douglas.

PART of the money collected by staff of the Anglo American Insurance Company in a 'give as you earn' scheme was presented to Robert Kemp, coxswain of Walton and Frinton lifeboat, in the form of a cheque for £2,200. Just as the cheque was being presented the lifeboat was called out on a service - two yachts had capsized and one was in danger of being sucked under the pier. The inshore lifeboat atnearbyClactonon- Sea, appropriately named Institute of London Underwriters, attended one of the vessels.

THE LEO Club of Poole has presented the RNLI with a cheque for £500 to cover the cost of the VHF radio fitted to the relief Mersey class lifeboat Bingo Lifeline.

A CHEQUE for £2,000 was presented by the Walton and Frinton ladies' guild to their lifeboat coxswain Robert Kemp in October.

The money had been raised since the guild paid £8,000 for an engine to be fitted to the station boarding boat last January and brings the total raised to £36,700.Bobby MacLeod Appeal A landmark in the appeal fund for Tobermory boathouse was reached on 30 September. On that date the £50,000 point was reached, and the fund now stands at £50,280.

The appeal, co-ordinated by station honorary treasurer Dougie MacNeilage, was started in January 1991 in memory of the late Bobby MacLeod, life president, former crew member and honorary secretary of Tobermory lifeboat. Bobby, a well-known Scottish dance leader was instrumental in the reopening of the station in 1990.

Numerous fund raising events have been held, including a dance organised by band-leader Jimmy Blue (which raised £5,000), a round Mull jet ski (£450), two lifeboat days (£6,200), tremendous support from yacht clubs, shipping companies, members of the public and many anonymous donors, The release of a cassette of a BBC programme 'Tribute to Bobby MacLeod' by Jim Johnston and his band has so far realised £1,000.

History at Staithes History was made in the tiny coastal villages of Staithes and Runswick Bay on Saturday 8 August, a day that was already important to the villagers as it was Lifeboat Day.

The morning's proceedings were at Runswick Bay, where a large crowd enjoyed the fundraising activities and witnessed pipe and marching band displays and helicopter/lifeboat exercises.

However in the afternoon the events switched to Staithes, for the official opening ceremony which was to be performed by a well-known sporting personality, now retired. This was none other than Desert Orchid, the famous racehorse.

It is safe to say that never before in the Institution's history has a lifeboat day been opened by a horse, unless of course you know differently! Unfortunately the heavens opened and the crowds began to disperse although the day still managed to raise in excess of £5,000. Staithes and Runswick branch are grateful to owner Richard Burridge and to Desert Orchid.Two by two Two friends from their university days, Stewart Goold and Jonathan Prince, biked it from Land's End to John O'Groats for charity.

The two fought constant leg pains for 11 days of near-continuous rain and northwesterly gales to cover the 855 gruelling miles and were very relieved when Jonathan's parents unexpectedly greeted them at the journey's end with a bottle of bubbly and a car to whisk them back to London.

Jonathan was sponsored for the RNLI who benefited by £500 and the British Olympic Disabled Association received a similar sum from Stewart.BRANCH members at Ferndown took part in the town's carnival procession last year.

After towing a D class lifeboat round the town, they manned an exhibition and souvenir stall at the show ground to raise further funds.

DESPITE inclement weather the Dickens Festival organised by Med way branch raised £254. Eileen Allison, the honorary treasurer, suffered from 'rising damp' in her period costume but a good time was had by all.

THE NEW Sutton Coldfield branch is maintaining the tradition of enthusiastic fundraising set by the former ladies' guild.

Well-attended events helped to bring the end-of-year total to £10,000.

AFTER completing the Glasgow half marathon last August, Ian Taylor presented a cheque for £600 to Mrs Maureen Scott, president of Lochinver ladies' guild.

DURING 1991 flag week John Butler and his wife Ann walked 56 local roads, called at every house and collected £1,410 for North Chingford branch. One year later it took them 73 roads to raise £1,409 - inflation strikes again! DURING a tour of the Falkland Islands last year 51 Field Squadron raised £2,368 from sponsored swim/run/pub crawl and quiz nights. On their return to this country a cheque was presented to Ian Ventham, head of fundraising and marketing.

THE 10TH anniversary of Hall Green and Acocks Green ladies' guild was celebrated in 1992. In that decade they have raised £38,000 for the lifeboat service.

A NOVEL fundraising event for the Ightham branch was held at the home of Mr and Mrs Stanley Maughan last August. Mr Maughan, branch treasurer, held open house for visitors to see his collection of exotic birds and mammals, with the highlight a demonstration of flying birds of prey. The birds were flown by the head falconer of the Whitbread Hop Farm and several hundred pounds were raised.

AT a recent social function, Huttons International of Hull raised £1,500 towards local charities and donated half the amount to Hull ladies' guild.Summer evenings A week of Country House Music, held across the north of England from 22 to 27 June lastyear, raised a total of £24,694.78.

Under the patronage of the Marquis of Normanby, a vice president of the Institution, six country houses were the venues for the 'in the manner of Glyndebourne' concerts. Stephen Wood of Leeds branch was responsible for the idea and undertook arrangements for the printing, catering and sponsorship of the musicians, enthusiastically supported by committees and the north east and north west regional offices.

The Goldberg Ensemble, a virtuoso ensemble of 12 string players and harpsichord, performed at each concert and a picnic dinner was held.

Mrs Alison Saunders, deputy chairman of the fundraising committee launched the week at Burton Constable Hall and RNLI Director Brian Miles and Mrs Miles attended the final evening at Hovingham Hall. Other concerts were held at Eaton Hall, Adlington Hall, Nostell Priory and Naworth Castle.

Clog step and hop! The Two by Two Clog Step and Dance team performed for two 14-week periods in 1990 and 1991 at the Lakeside Holiday Camp on Hayling Island.

Collections were made after their dance displays and a total of £1,052 was donated to the Portsmouth (Langstone Harbour) lifeboat house appeal.

Crew members attended both performance but could not be persuaded to don clogs and join in! Shepway Airshow The RNLI was adopted as the charity which would benefit from the Shepway Festival in September, and the RNLI was also authorised to collect money during the Airshow.

Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that most of the flying was cancelled, but this did not stop members from six branches (Dungeness, Littlestone, Dymchurch, Hythe, Folkestone and Dover) from gathering in force on the cliff top Leas at Folkestone with their collecting boxes.

Rupert Baker from ITV's 'London's Burning' made a spectacular arrival on the beach from the Dover lifeboat and spent several hours walking around in the rain encouraging support - and the souvenir stalls did well as people wanted to keep out of the rain! Despite the weather over £3,000 was raised and the RNLI made many new friends.

York raft race The annual raft race took place on the River Ouse at York on a gloriously hot day in June.

Entries ranged from highly sophisticated speed rafts to home-made and colourful decorative rafts, with everyone getting soaking wet, having fun and raising money for the lifeboat service.

Rosemary Ford, hostess of BBC TV's Generation Game, started the race and refreshments, souvenir sales and tombola stall were organised by committees from the city suburbs at the York motor yacht club where the race finished.

Silver lining During the Southampton International Boat Show last September, Tony Stafford, divisional manager of Mettler-Toledo, presented a cheque for £1,000 to Mervyn Whitcombe, chairman of the Southampton Lifeboat Board. A plaque was fixed to the RNLI's exhibition stand to mark the occasion.

In 1991 the Board's original stand was stolen from its winter storage and an appeal was launched for funds for its replacement.

Mettler-Toledo (the UK arm of an international weighing and measuring group) had launched a scheme to recover silver from the industrial electrodes it sells to the chemicals, food and pharmaceutical industries. To encourage their customers to participate in the environmently-friendly scheme, the company donates £1, plus the value of the reclaimed silver, to the RNLI for every electrode returned. To date the scheme has raised £1,000, helping to finance the Board's new stand.

Joint effort A joint fundraising campaign by the Civil Service Motoring Association (CSM A) and the Frizzell Group has raised £30,000 to cover the cost of a new crew room at St Ives.

The money was raised by a series of competitions in the CSMA's magazine Motoring and Leisure and the cheque was presented to John Chalcroft, chairman of the St Ives branch, by Peter Jones, chairman of the CSM A and Colin Frizzell on 29 October1992 Volvo winners A total of more than £356,000 has been raised so far from the 1992 promotion in conjunction with Volvo Concessionaires.

Six Volvo 440 1.6Li cars were offered as prizes in raffles throughout various fundraising regions. The prize winners and amounts raised in the regions are: Scotland raised £48,545 - the winner was Mrs Christie of Glenrothes.

South West and Greater London combined to raise £95,802 - the winner was Mr Draper of Bristol.

North East and Eastern together raised £49,999 - the winner was Mrs Buccilli of Leeds.

Wales and Central England raised £52,886 - the winner was Mr G.Griffiths of Haverford West.

South raised £70,410 - the winner was Miss L. Monson of Romford.

North West raised over £40,000 - the winner was Mrs S. Walker of Barrowin- Furness..