A bridge too far!Bridge! Photo Blackpool Evening Gazette Four thousand walkers crossed the River Wyre in Lancashire via the new Shard Bridge - and managed to raise £4,000 for the RNLI! The idea for the sponsored walk, before the bridge's official opening to traffic, came from Mrs Phyllis Hardman whose husband Frank is chairman of Fleetwood station branch.

Members of Knott End branch manned the Hambleton end of the bridge with colleagues from Fleetwood branch at the other. Each walker paid a pound, for which they received a raffle ticket to be surrendered at the other end where they were presented with a commemorative certificate.

Children, dogs, even a llama and goats joined the crowds crossing the bridge and in the space of six hours over £4,000 was collected.Centenary Ball The St Annes-on-Sea ladies' guild celebrated its centenary in June - the first guild to reach this milestone - and held a Summer Ball at the Grand Hotel to celebrate.

The event raised £2,577.

180 people attended, including the Mayor of Fylde, Councillor Jean Wilding and her consort, the Institution's Director and his wife, Tom Nutman, the divisional inspector of lifeboats for the north, Ms Sue Hennessey, the north west regional manager, Allan Williams, chairman of Lytham St Annes station branch together with representatives from several neighbouring guilds and members of the Lytham St Annes lifeboat crew.

The Director pointed out the importance of this unique centenary and presented the chairman with a commemorative vellum, after which Councillor Alfred Jealous, a member of the station branch committee proposed the 'health of the guild' and hoped it was going to continue for another 100 years.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS We regret that we are unable to include notices of forthcoming events in THE LIFEBOAT as the number involved would soon swamp the journal. We endeavour to report as many fundraising events as possible after they have taken place, and make every effort to include all reports received inGoing with a fizz HMS Warrior was the venue for an evening of sea shanties, music and fivecourse dinner organised by Botley branch.

The 240 guests enjoyed a demonstration of Portsmouth's D class and Atlantic 21 lifeboats from the deck of the ship whilst toasting the crews with Bucks Fizz.

A highlight of the evening was a raffle and auction which was wonderfully supported by local businesses. The evening was so successful that the branch is hoping to make it an annual event.

Yachts, caravans and shields- Yacht builders A. H. Moody & Son organised a Midsummer Meet which raised £1,500, and director David Moody, who is also president of the Locks Heath and District branch, handed over a cheque to the RNLI at a special ceremony in August at the company's Swanwick yard.. Accepting the cheque on behalf of the Locks Heath and District branch chairman John Robinson expressed his appreciation of the generous donation.

At the same time, David also handed over the keys of a caravan which had been donated by Hagen Caravans of Exmouth. Mr Robinson paid tribute to David Moody and Tony Willey who had spent hundreds of hours painting it in RNLI livery and converting it for use as a sales and publicity unit for shows and other public functions in the area.

Moodys were also the first recipients of the Sue Curror Shield. This award will be presented annually to the organisation which, in the opinion of the branch, has helped most during the year. The award has been named after an RNLI volunteer who has given unstintingly to the cause over many years but who has now been forced to retire through illhealth.

Long term support Asa young girl in the 1900' s, Mrs Margaret Maltby (now aged 95) was taken by her father to see the lifeboats in a parade around Manchester and, although she has only been to sea once in as long as she can remember, has contributed to the RNLI ever since.

For the past 20 years Mrs Maltby, who lives near Preston, has had a collecting box in her home and when she receives her pension she immediately puts 50p a week into the box. A representative from her local branch comes along every year to unlock the box and count the money and Mrs Maltby then adds to the collection to make it up to a round figure of £30.In Brief PETER Nutt, a member of Fowey station branch, went on a 13-week sponsored slim.

He lost a total of 3st 31b, raising £464.65 for his branch funds.

THE HONORARY secretary of Swansea branch, Bill Harrington, and his wife Veronica were out with their collecting boxes in the Quadrant shopping centre and collected an impressive £450.

A COFFEE morning and plant sale organised by Burnham-on-Crouch ladies' guild raised over £400, and was followed by a successful attendance at the East Coast boat show where the sale of souvenirs amounted to £1,655. A gardens and flower festival attracted over 260 visitors and raised more than £850 - altogether a very fruitful season for the guild.

WILLENHALL publican Alan Dunn saved thousands of 2p pieces and stacked them on his bar. When the time came to count them more than £90 had been collected, which Mr Dunn donated to the RNLI.

ALMOST £400 was raised at the local carnival when Potters Bar branch ran a tombola.

Star prizes included two flying lessons and a glider trip.

AT THE first event at the home of the president and his wife of Hadley ladies' guild over 80 people enjoyed a garden luncheon and raffle. Prizes included tea at The Ritz and a weekend at a health farm, resulting in over £3,000 for lifeboat funds.

AS THE result of a garden party at Birtsmorton Court in Worcestershire, organised jointly by the Malvern and Upton upon Severn branches, over £2,700 was raised. More than 500 visitors enjoyed the usual stalls as well as ballet dancing, madrigal singing and the Worcester Militia.

ONCE again Ridgeway Middle School at Astwood Bank, Redditch has been fundraising for Penlee lifeboat, which it adopted over 20 years ago. A penny race one lunchtime raised £80 while a sponsored 25 mile bike ride by 13-year-olds Paul Phillpot, Edward Miller and Alistair Hayward-Wright brought in a magnificent total of £180.

A RECORD Lifeboat Week was held by the Tunbridge Wells and district branch, netting a grand sum of £8,844.40. This was up on previous years and perhaps the result of the Salcombe lifeboat TV programme shown shortly before.

THANKS to Fred Taylor a recent fundraising golf tournament at Mendip golf club raised £475 for the Institution.

Fred also collected £124.27 at the Summerfield food store in Shepton Mallet.

PHILIP Schofield, an active Shoreline member in the Bishop's Castle area of the Church Stretton branch, recently celebrated his 80th birthday with a request that he did not want any presents. Instead, those friends who wished, should make a donation to the local branch. The result of this generous thought was a £138.50 boost to branch funds.The local lifeboat station's annual gala was one of the biggest events of the year at Anstruther, and raised some £6,000.

The day's events started at 1pm with stalls and displays on the harbour front.

At 1.30pm a maroon heralded the start of the parade of decorated floats and rafts from the Anstruther holiday village which passed through the town to the beach for the start of a raft race to the beach near the lifeboat station. The winner was The Salutation', and the best dressed float trophy was awarded to The Ship Tavern as Father Neptune. The highest sponsor was also The Ship Tavern.

Later in the day the local lifeboat Kingdom of Fife gave a rescue demonstration in conjunction with a Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet. The helicopter had been a big attraction earlier in the day, with long queues to look inside after it landed at the harbour.

To add to the day's events the Army provided a shooting range, Customs exhibited their drug stall which illustrated how drugs were smuggled into the country and how the smugglers could be caught. Pleasure boat cruises were provided by Jim and Lynn Raeper and to tempt the tastebuds, home baking, hamburgers and teas were all on offer to a crowd which totalled some 4,000 people.Meeting the challenge Four members of Bude lifeboat crew, Mike Sims, Simon Chadwick, Paul Westaway and Angle Gifford took part in this year's Challengers Trophy, held in Cornwall between 19 and 22 May. The Challengers Trophy puts executives through mentally and physically demanding challenges in wild country over a four-day period, testing physical fitness, planning skills, resourcefulness, the ability to manage change and in a crisis - the qualities of good management. Team work is vital to success in the event.

The competition is for teams of four, and is a race against the terrain, weather and the clock. Teams are given information to find checkpoints and work out their best route, navigating with map and compass.

A total of 84 teams took part from over 70 organisations with an RNLI team taking part for the first time. Each team was encouraged to use the event as a means of raising money for charity, with this year's beneficiary being the RNLI.

A £70,000 donation to lifeboat funds is expected as a result of sponsorship of competitors in the event and the Gough Trophy, provided by Lord Gough, chairman of the organising committee, was awarded to Lloyds Bank for raising £15,000, the highest total from a single company.

Sailing sale For the past three years a group of friends from the Farnborough area have been raising money for the RNLI. Brought together by their love of sailing and cruising the main event of the year is a private auction held at the home of Brian and Janet Lodge. This year tickets from British Airways and Virgin, as well as charter trips on yachts and canal boats, were up for sale and £3,000 was realised from the auction. Mr Lodge said 'We are all into boating, which is why we support the lifeboats. This year's theme was boating through the ages'.Bouncing lifeboat On Saturday 5 June a Lifeboat Fun Day was held on Lytham Green, next to Lytham St Annes lifeboat station, and an amazing £5,500 was raised for lifeboat funds.

Organised by the lifeboat crew under the leadership of their coxswain, Andrew Ashton, the event was supported by a number of ladies' lifeboat guilds from Blackpool, St Annes, Lytham, Freckleton and Southport who manned their own stalls and attractions, the proceeds of which went to their own funds.

The crew had provided a wide range of attractions ranging from a simulated helicopter rescue with the inshore lifeboat, a free-fall parachute jump, and a display of vintage vehicles organised by crew member Andrew Pothecary - whose father, Rod, provided the commentary for events taking place in the arena.The event was opened by comedian Mick Miller and was followed by a flypast of aircraft from the British Aerospace airfield at nearby Warton. A licensed bar was provided in the boathouse and 1,500 beefburgers were cooked by crew member Dave Barker and his wife! The afternoon's displays and events were followed by a display of Morris dancing leading into a folk concert outside the boathouse which lasted until llpm and included such well-known artists as Roger Westbrook, who gave his time free of charge.

The event also saw the 'launching' of a new lifeboat for the Institution's fleet.

This was the first bouncing lifeboat to be produced in this country and is named Sarah Emily Harrop after the station's lifeboat.

It was funded by four donors - Pontins, Nuclear Electric, British Aerospace and a local hostelry The Taps. The 'boat' is for use by all branches and guilds in the north west and will be kept at the Manchester regional office who will arrange its loan to interested parties. The funding of this new unique fund raising item was arranged by crew member Andrew Fallow.

Pictured are station honorary secretary Frank Kilroy (right) accepting the 'bouncing lifeboat' from Mr Kemal Tayib, general manager of Holiday Club, Pontins, who represented all four sponsors.

Photo Evening GazetteIn Brief ONE hundred and twenty people took to the Thames aboard MV Silver Barracuda, a luxury floating restaurant for a City branch lunchtime cruise. They included the chairman and 12 members of the Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee. Mr Graham Dowson was a speaker and Mike Grant, coxswain of the Selsey lifeboat also said a few words. The lunch raised some £5,300 and was the first in a programme of events leading up to the branch's centenary next year.

WITH the very good help of Mr and Mrs Walters of the Grove Bar, Blue Lagoon, San Miguel, Alicante, £304 has been donated to the RNLI through the Lavenham and district branch. Most of the money is the proceeds of coffee mornings organised by Mrs Walters.

THE West Wight guild held its annual Spring Buffet Supper at the Royal Solent Yacht Club in Yarmouth and raised £542.

Highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards to three lady members of the guild committee who, between them had contributed 40 years of dedicated service. Mrs Di Kingston, secretary, was awarded a Silver badge, Mrs Mavis Reeves and Mrs Bobs Haigh were each presented with a statuette for their work as committee members.

VIC Slater, a member of the Bamber Bridge branch cycled the North Lancashire cycleway, a 130 mile route, and thanks to the generosity of his sponsors collected £1,200.

THE SUMMER garden party held by Hitchin branch at Great Offley House in July raised over £200. The branch also used the event to officially launch their Tyne class model lifeboat and had invited Mrs Pat Gadd to name the lifeboat Cyril Gadd in memory of her late husband, a founder member.Nine-year-old Jennifer Stone of Onchan, Isle of Man, was determined to say 'thank you' to members of the Douglas lifeboat crew who rescued her last year when she and her uncle were cut off by the tide when walking along the shoreline.

Jennifer's uncle put her on a rock well above the high water mark and climbed the steep cliff for help. Douglas lifeboat was quickly on the scene and Jennifer was lifted off the rock from the sea.

Jennifer came up with the idea of a sponsored walk, with all her family taking part. This raised £300 and Jennifer was delighted to present it to Coxswain Robert Corran when she, her parents and three sisters, Katy, Linda and Rachel visited the station. Photo Roger OramDogged determination! Two Springer spaniels - Sam, who is nine and his son MacSam, who is about a year old - have been raising money for the RNLI.

Their owner, Peter Cooper, owns the Spittal of Glenshee hotel and has bolted a collecting box to his hotel lobby with a notice inviting guests and visitors to take Sam and MacSam for a walk.

A total of £155.22 has been taken from the box in the last year, the result of as many as five or six walks a day! Lubbers land the cash Sir Marcus Worsley Bart., Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire launched the Landlubbers' Lifeboat Appeal in June at the Institution's northern depot in Thirsk.

Staff at the depot decided to raise additional funds in their spare time and they and the Thirsk ladies' guild formed a committee in early May to run the appeal, which has a target of £10,000 to fund a D class lifeboat between May 1993 and December 1994. A flag day held in Thirsk in May raised £810 to start the ball rolling.A raft of races • Hundreds of people lined the banks of the River Ouse in York to watch the annual RNLI raft race in which teams from all over Yorkshire took part in a one-and-a-half mile race.

The Shoulder of Mutton team won the award for the pub that raised the most in sponsorship, collecting £240 in their first entry in the race. The event itself raised in excess of £3,000 for York branch.

• The 1993 Great Oban Raft Race raised a magnificent £7,250 for Oban station branch. The main sponsors of the event were J. Forteith and Sons, the Oban Distillery, Oban Print Shop and R.A.

Clement Associates, whose team were winners of the Royal Bank quaich for the raft achieving the greatest sponsorship.

• Over 250 rafts took part in the 1993 Bandon River Raft Run in County Cork.

Held in February each year since 1988 (when just 16 craft braved the cold and wet to raise £1,700), this year's race realised more than £20,000 in sponsorship. Support came from all corners of Ireland as well as from Cornwall, Wales and Liverpool and included several lifeboat crew members.

• Skerries, County Dublin, was the venue for another event - the Wavin Fun Raft Race.

2,000 people watched as the six-person crews lifted their rafts into the water and paddled off, some in fancy dress. The winners were all crew members of Skerries D class lifeboat and the day TJsg finished with an air/sea rescue demonstration with ?S Skerries lifeboat and an Army 5 Air Corps helicopter with Clogherhead lifeboat standing by. Skerries branch were k delighted to have raised £6,890 from the event.

In Brief THE WENDOVER Fish Bar in Buckinghamshire has raised over £1,000 from the collecting box on the counter, which has been in place since 1979. A plaque to commemorate this excellent collection was presented to Andy Tobin, the manager by Joy Baker, area organiser for the Eastern region. Andy and his staff donated a final sum of £55 to make sure that the target of four figures was reached.

COUNCILLOR George Hobson, chairman of Humberside county council has presented a cheque for £6,718.51 to Flamborough branch. This amount represented all the proceeds from his charity fund during his year of office SOME 30 people took part in the annual sponsored walk of Rustington and East Preston branch, bringing in a total in excess of £2,500. Of this amount Mrs Jesse Bicknell raised over £1,000 from her 22 sponsors.

AMONG several successful events organised by Eastbourne branch this summer was a tea afternoon held in St Wilfrid's church hall which raised £486, a bring and buy sale which brought in £142 and a summer sale and tea dance which realised £378.

A FASHION show put on by Bandbox, a dress shop in the village of Birchington, raised £725 for Birchington and District branch. The branch also received a cheque for £201 from an event arranged by the bowls club and £1,000 from the United Services Club which had designated the RNLI as its charity for the year.Tug-of-fun Broadlands Estate in Romsey was host to Southampton Lifeboat Board's major fundraising event - the 6th annual RNLI / BT Marine tug-of-war and fun day.

In the bright sunshine the crowds were able to choose between two action packed arenas, surrounded by stalls and sideshows.

In one the Romsey Town Corps of Drums, the Solent Strutters Majorettes and other groups entertained the crowds and in the second the tug-of-war itself took place. Teams from Hampshire Pubs and Clubs Tug-of-War Association took part in the 'serious' competition while local companies and sport clubs took part in the less serious 'fun' competition. The the serious section was won by Crondall and the fun section by The Shirehorse.

At the end of the day the marketing director of BT Marine, the main sponsors of the event, presented a cheque for £1,200 to Mervyn Whitcombe, chairman of the Southampton Lifeboat Board and Lord Romsey presented the trophies to the winning teams.

Well and truly open Ramsgate branch, in conjunction with the East Kent Maritime Trust, organised a Ships' Open Day when 14 vessels, including both station lifeboats, were open for inspection by the public.

Additional interest was provided by a demonstration by the S AR helicopter from Manston, HM Customs and a number of other organisations. As a result of this combined venture both charities have benefited by over £1,000.

Wheels, feet and boats This year funds raised from the third annual Ward Hills Challenge, held in Orkney to help worthy causes, were donated to local ladies' guilds.

The challenge involved 75 miles cycling, 2,865ft of climbing, and boat crossings to four Orkney islands. 28 participants took part in the gruelling event leaving Kirkwall at 7am and finishing in evening sunshine at 8.30pm at Kirkwall lifeboat station.

Among those waiting to welcome them were Lady Violet Macrae, president of Orkney Mainland ladies' guild, Brigadier Robertson, chairman of Kirkwall station branch and Captain Spence, the station honorary secretary. The challengers were congratulated on their success in raising approximately £3,800 for local ladies' guilds.

Well organised Phil Johnson of Tedburn St Mary, Devon loves classical music and has built a scale model organ, similar to that which once graced the Alexander Palace in London.

A tape recorder is concealed inside and a switch under the table lets Purcells Trumpet Voluntary pour out when people gather - delighting the crowds who eagerly put money into Phil's box! Going, going...

Promises from balloon rides to pond lilies were auctioned at the home of Norman and Phil Baxter of York branch. Thanks to the auctioneer Mr Richardson and generous supporters £2,023.67 was raised..