Relief - D class Pride ofNuneaton and Bedworth The Borough ofNuneaton and Bedworth is over 90 miles from the sea, but the May or, Councillor Bob Copland, decided to make the funding of two D class lifeboats the aim of his Civic Appeal. Aided by the Nuneaton and District branch over £23,000 was raised.

The first of the two lifeboats, Pride of Nuneaton and Bedworth was dedicated and named at an impressive civic ceremony outside the Town Hall on Sunday 14 May 1995. The chairman of the branch, Clive Plummer, opened the proceedings and welcomed everyone present. He introduced the Mayor who said how grateful he was to all who had helped to raise the money. He then formally handed the lifeboat to the RNLI.

It was accepted by Anthony Oliver, deputy head of fundraising and marketing who expressed the Institution's thanks for the gift and his amazement that people living so far from the sea should raise such a sum. The Mayor's chaplain, the Reverend Edward Pogmore, conducted the service of dedication, blessing the lifeboat with water from the local River Anker and Poole.

The Mayoress, Mrs Elaine Copland, then named the lifeboat in the traditional way and the ceremony was brought to a close by the presentation of a cheque to the appeal by the chairman of the Mercia Health Trust to fund the engines for both lifeboats.

Mumbles - D class and opening of new lifeboat house The Mumbles lifeboat station saw a double celebration on Saturday 8 April 1995 with the handing over ceremony and service of dedication for the new lifeboat house and the new D class inshore lifeboat.

Following the national anthems Commodore Bob Hastie, member of the RNLI's committee of management and chairman of The Mumbles lifeboat station, opened proceedings. Rear Admiral Graham CBE, retired director of the RNLI, then handed over the lifeboat and keys to Captain Roy Griffiths, station honorary secretary.

The service of dedication which followed was conducted by Canon Geoffrey Thomas, vicar of Oystermouth and chaplain to the Forces. Mrs Gillian Graham was then asked to cut the ribbon to officially open the lifeboat house.Poitree - opening of new lifeboat house Portree's new lifeboat house was dedicated and opened officially on 6 May 1995.

The lifeboat station was opened in 1990 and has a Waveney class lifeboat which lies afloat. A permanent home for crew and the boarding boat was needed and the old fish processing building on the pier was earmarked. Work commenced on gutting and refurbishing the old building at a cost of around £53,000 and the crew facility, boathouse and davit was completed last summer.

The ceremony commenced with Murdo MacArthur, station honorary secretary introducing Ewan Grant, branch chairman who then called upon Archie MacKenzie DL, chairman of the executive committee of the Scottish Lifeboat Council to accept the boathouse on behalf of the RNLI.

Mrs Bernadette George, wife of the former chairman of Portree branch, officially opened the boathouse by unveiling a plaque and the dedication service which followed was conducted by Reverend John Ferguson.

Lochinver - opening of new lifeboat house Lochinver's new Penza lifeboat house was officially opened on 1 April 1995.

The new boathouse was funded by a legacy of Mrs Eugenie Boucher, whose generosity has enabled eight boathouses to be funded, including Lochinver.

Mr Roy Hunter, an executor of Mrs Boucher's estate, handed the boathouse over to Lt Cdr Brian Miles, director of the RNLI, and following the service of dedication a plaque commemorating the generous bequest was unveiled by Mr Hunter.The morning of 29 April 1995 dawned grey and cool as family, friends and supporters gathered at the Swanage lifeboat station for the handing over and naming ceremony of the station's first new D class lifeboat and the official opening of the new inshore lifeboat house.

Dr William Tudor- Thomas, chairman of Swanage branch opened the proceedings and welcomed the guests, after which Mrs Phyl Cleare handed over the second D class lifeboat which she had generously funded. Her first lifeboat Phyl Clare was in the relief fleet and had carried out evaluation trials at Swanage.

Mrs Peggy Brown then handed over the inshore lifeboat house which she had funded in memory of Kenneth Budden, a former assistant honorary secretary of St Helier lifeboat station and skipper of a yacht on which Mrs Brown had crewed for many years.

The lifeboat and boathouse were received by Anthony Oliver, deputy head of fundraising and marketing and accepted by the station honorary secre-tary, Captain Neil Hardy.

The divisional inspector of lifeboats, south, Captain Hugh Fogarty, spoke on the design and development of the D class lifeboat before the station chaplain, the Reverend Dudley Ractlif f e conducted the service of dedication.

Andrew Young, regional manager for the south west, proposed a vote of thanks before Mrs Brown cut the ribbon to officially open the inshore lifeboat house and Mrs Cleare named the lifeboat Phyl Clare 2.Happisburgh - D class Colin Martin Following the tragic death of Colin Martin early in 1992 his sister Julie suggested launching an appeal to raise funds for a D class lifeboat to be named in his memory.

On Sunday 2 April 1995, a little over three years later, family, friends and supporters of the appeal gathered at the cliff top location in front of the Happisburgh lifeboat station on a glorious Sunday afternoon to see the results of their efforts - the handing over and naming of the new Happisburgh D class lifeboat.

Mr Jack Hall, branch chairman, opened proceedings and welcomed everyone to the ceremony for what was only the seventh lifeboat to be named at the station in over 100 years.

Miss Julie Martin handed over the new lifeboat on behalf of all those who had been raising funds for her, including members of the Great Yarmouth American Auto Club whose display of vehicles was a unique attraction for a naming ceremony.

Mr Anthony Oliver, deputy head of fundraising and marketing, received the new lifeboat and handed it over to the station honorary secretary, Cedric Cox, for use at Happisburgh lifeboat station.

The service of dedication was conducted by the Reverend John Lines, vicar of Happisburgh, with Gerald Lomax, former honorary secretary and now deputy launching authority reading the lesson.

Colin Martin's widow, Carole, then named the lifeboat Colin Martin in memory of her husband before the lifeboat launched to show off her capabilities in front of the large crowd lining the cliff top and the beach.A rededication service was held at Torbay lifeboat station on 26 March 1995 following the allocation of the former Fishguard lifeboat Marie Winstone for temporary duty at Torbay. She replaces Edward Bridges which was on station from 1975 to 1994 and became the first Arun to be withdrawn from service.

Introduced by the -, branch chairman, Peter Hosking, the 160 invited guests assembled in chilly conditions with a strong north west breeze blowing in from the sea.

The guests included the branch president, the Mayor of Torbay and the Mayoress. The service was conducted by the station's honorary chaplain, senior superintendent Paul Jarrett JP MBE from the local branch of the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.

Midway through the service the guests were surprised to hear Marie Veinstone's engines start - the Coastguard had tasked the lifeboat to join in a search for a missing diver.

The timing left Paul Jarrett rather nonplussed, as he was about to ask Coxswain David Hurford to read a lesson - and he was already leaving with the only copy! However, an alert crew member was able to produce the station's bible.Acting honorary secretary Barrie Foster, expressed the station's appreciation to the RNLI for allocating Marie Winstone and wished the crew and the lifeboat every success in her duties at sea.

Captain Hugh Fogarty, divisional inspector south, gave a brief history of the boat, explaining that she had had a complete refit before arriving, and confessed that he had never before had the star of the ceremony disappear! Andrew Young, regional manager for the south west, added his praise for the work of the branch committee and crew, reminding guests that the Torbay station was the third busiest in the British Isles. Photo Mike PetersRelief - D class G C H Fox On 6 December 1994, former bridge correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, G.C.H. Fox, named a D class lifeboat at the Institution's depot in Poole.

The lifeboat was the third to be funded by the Charity Challenge Cup organised by Better Bridge in Britain, the first being presented at the end of 1992 and named Jill Gatti after the Cup's founder and the second lifeboat named Palmer Bayer by his widow Peggy in June 1994.

At the ceremony in Poole, Anthony Oliver, deputy head of fundraising and marketing, accepted the lifeboat for use in the relief fleet from Mrs Christine Duckworth, executive director of Better Bridge in Britain.

Following a service of dedication by the Rector of Poole, the Reverend Stanley Holbrooke-Jones, Mr Fox named the lifeboat GCHFox.

Arbroath - D class Coachmakers of London The spirit of Lionel Lukin, the 18th century coachmaker who invented the forerunner of the modern day lifeboat, lives on in Arbroath's new D class lifeboat Coachmakers of London. Lukin, who used cork and airtight boxes to convert a 20ft yawl into an 'unimmergible' boat, was Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers of London in Abersoch - new lifeboat house 1793. In 1993, the bicentenary of Lukin's Mastership, the company adopted the RNLI as its charity and raised £10,000 to fund the lifeboat.

Saturday 15 April 1995 saw the handing over of the lifeboat to the RNLI at Arbroath lifeboat station by Andrew Ferguson, Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers. The Hon. Mrs H. Douglas- Home, a vice convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council, accepted the lifeboat on behalf of the Institution and following a service of dedication, Mr Ferguson's wife, Elizabeth, named her Coachmakers of London.

A new sales outlet was then officially opened by the Countess of Airlie.

The new lifeboat house at Abersoch was officially opened and dedicated at a ceremony on Saturday 1 April 1995.

Built better to house the station's Atlantic 21 lifeboat it provides in-line accommodation for the lifeboat and tractor, a crew room for training purposes, changing room, toilets and a shower for the crew.

Proceedings were opened by John Gwilym Jones, chairman of Abersoch lifeboat station and Commodore George Cooper RD FNI RNR, chief of operations, was then invited to hand the boathouse into the care of the station. It was accepted by Barry McGill, station honorary secretary..