Monopoly Live Most of us have played the classic board game Monopoly, but what about Monopoly Live where players actually visit the London sites from the board either by foot or public transport? This is just what happened on Sunday 6 July in Trafalgar Square - the first major public event to be organised by the RNLI London Events office and resulting in over £8,300 sponsorship money being collected for the Institution! The setting up started at 7am, early for a Sunday morning and still fairly peaceful apart from pigeons and the odd late night reveller! By 9.30am Storm Force members with their parents.

brothers and sisters, branch and guild members and others were eager and ready to start their dash around London.

Some participants visited as many as 26 of the locations and within two hours the leaders returned, looking hot and foot weary but very enthusiastic - they then received their special certificates and a goody bag.

Storm Force hero, Stormy Stan, decided to pay a visit and was a great success with all the tourists while the souvenir stand did a flourishing trade and the display lifeboat drew the crowds.

The event was also fortunate to be supported by Charing Cross Police station who were pleased to show some of the children the cells and the various vehicles used.

The sponsorship cash raised by all who took part is still flooding in to the London events office together with lots of nice letter and ideas for future events. Thanks to all who took part and to all those who made Monopoly live such a fun and successful day.

Garden roadshow On August Bank Holiday Monday the RNLI joined forces with 11 other charities in the village of Mawnan Smith to organise a garden fete at the home of Hugh Scully, presenter of BBC's Antiques Roadshow, and his wife- Antiques were valued by famous experts from all over the country including John Bly, Michael Newman, Graham Bazley and Christopher Spencer.

Two thousand people enjoyed the afternoon and the RNLI ran a souvenir stall which took £1,179 and the raffle which raised £1,458. Falmouth branch and ladies guild committee worked very hard during the afternoon and raised £4,530 - half the net proceeds of the event.

Newquay jailbirds Seven members of the Newquay, Cornwall ladies lifeboat guild, who between them have given 183 years of service to the Institution, were overall winners in the Newquay Carnival in July.

The ladies, two of whom have been awarded the RNLI's Gold badge, won a total of £120 for the guild with their float, the prison ship 'Bide-a-while'.

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Emsworth branch recently held its popular annual sale and raised £3,217 for the RNLI. It was a marvellous day with a fantastic range of stalls and hundreds of people thronged to Emsworth Quay for all the bargains.

The station honorary secretary of Southwold lifeboat station found a little note inside the station's collecting box saying, 'Friday 29 August, Anna, James, Alistair, Jack, Lizzie and Netty raised £2.34 for the lifeboats by performing a show for their family at the campsite'.

The station were so touched by this that they felt other people ought to see what they consider to be fundraising at its best -truly from the heart.

Carol Maxim, the landlady of the Junction Inn, Southampton, undertook a sponsored loop-the-loop in an aerobatic aircraft. Joining Carol (who is a grandmother!} were two pub customers. Bob Forsyth and Pat Hiilman. Between them and other related events they raised over £700 for the Institution.

As a result of house to house to house collections, a flag day and a Sea Sunday service of song, the Midsomer Norton and Radstock branch raised over £1,260. On May Bank holiday week-end for two days members and supporters stood outside the local supermarket between opening and closing times and collected £1,380 and on Midsummer's Day the branch held a very successful barbecue and jazz evening which raised over £1,000.

For the past year Michael Stubbs of the Burton St Modwen branch has been visiting Belvedere junior school in Burton-on-Trent and talking to the children about the RNLI. As a result, Michael aroused the interest of many of the children, with some of them joining Storm Force. In July the children invited him to an assembly where he was pleasantly surprised to receive a cheque for the RNLI.

Ronnie charms the crowds Celebrity Ronnie Corbett was the guest of honour at North Sunderland's lifeboat fete, held on 25 August.

It proved to be a record fundraising day for the hard working local ladies lifeboat guild who were supported by the branch committee and lifeboat crew - in all, a magnificent total of £13,000 was raised for Institution funds.

Ronnie was on holiday nearby at the time but kindly took time out to attend the event. He was joined by his wife and his grandson, Thomas, to open the fete and mingle with the crowd.

Pancake race Friends and work colleagues from several Penarth supermarkets and highstreet stores got together on Shrove Tuesday to take part in a sponsored pancake race in aid of the RNLI.

The picture shows the Lord Mayor of Cardiff testing the pancake quality from winning team members of David Morgan and the Energy Centre.

Teddy bear picnic Doreen Beste, Braunton and Croyde branch souvenir secretary, decided to raise funds for the Institution by holding a teddy bear picnic at her home.

Doreen and guests certainly got a surprise when her family from Tamworth turned up unannounced dressed as bears - luckily they didn't scare anyone from the tombola and raffle which helped to raise £141.

Famous four In August four teenage friends completed a sponsored walk in aid of the RNLI. Glyn Holt and his brother Aidan along with Andrew Cutts and his brother Michael, walked 100 miles of Pembrokeshire coastal path to raise funds for their local Barnsley branch. Initially they had set a target to raise £200 - imagine their surprise when they ended up topping £900! The lads hiked through every conceivable weather condition, ranging from blazing sunshine to thunder, lightening and 70mph winds! During the walk the they were totally self-sufficient, carrying food, cooking utensils and all camping equipment in their backpacks.

By land and sea John Dewar and Loren Sutherland from the small island of Burray (one of the Orkney Islands) decided to raise funds for the RNLI and between them topped £1,000 in sponsorship money.

John swam from the neighbouring island of South Ronaldsay to Burray - a distance of some three-quarters of a mile - in 18 minutes and raised £620. Loren ran in the Hoy quarter marathon and raised £401. The young fundraisers are pictured at Burray pier with the Longhope lifeboat crew on the day John completed his swim.

Harbour day Tynemouth MP, Alan Campbell, paid tribute to the dedication and bravery of lifeboat crews in his opening speech at Cullercoats harbour day.

This traditional event, held in July, proved to be a great success and raised in excess of £5,000 for RNLI funds.

Top class Every year, pupils at Cliff House, Sexey's School in Bruton, Somerset arrange a sponsored walk and nominate four charities. This year the RNLI was chosen and the school presented Basil Mosenthal of the Bruton and District branch with a cheque for £177.

Future fundraising plans for the school include the sale of doughnuts at break-time with proceeds also going to the Institution.

Stone of moon Peter Mirfin, energetic landlord of the Wheatsheaf Inn, Fromes Hill, has introduced an unusual monthly fundraising race. Competitors, in teams of four, have to carry the self-styled 'Stone of Moon' against the clock between his pub and another - a round trip of nearly two and a half miles- Equipment involving wheels or pulleys cannot be used, and the stone must not be grounded during a run.

The weight of the stone is described as being 'enough' and the two landlords' decisions are final - although bribes in aid of the RNLI are gratefully received! Corporate fundraising by Nigel French Toshiba - (BT Global Challenge) - The fundraising efforts of the RNLI crew leggers on Wave Warrior, together with the matching funds from Toshiba and the sponsorship monies from the many supporters has meant that we have raised more than enough to fund an Atlantic 75 inshore lifeboat. Toshiba have very kindly agreed thai their contribution can be used to sponsor an RNLI MTU (mobile training unit). A number of these units are currently in service and travel throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland to take training to the lifeboat stations. Each unit is fitted out for particular types of training such as radio communications, chartwork and radio navigation aids, radar operation, and chartwork and first aid.

The RNLI Credit Card - New terms and conditions now apply to all cardholders. You shoufd receive a letter from the Royal Bank of Scotland setting out these improved terms and conditions.

The Harbour Account - If you are a saver there is more good news - interest rates have increased again. Please see the advertisement in this issue. The 30 day postal savings account has been well received by our supporters.

But we need more of you to join to reach the target of 2,000 accounts. On reaching this figure, the Royal Bank of Scotland will pay £50,000 to the RNU. Ongoing commission will be paid at a rate of .25% on balances as at the 30 June annually.

Single Service Sugar Promotion A correction to the published price of the RNLI bus, it is £2.99 not £2.75 as previously stated. The promotional sugar packets should now be in general circulation in cafes and restaurants around the country. We receive 50p for every bus purchased.

The RNLI Travel Club - It is about this time of year that one starts to think about holidays. Please do not forget that discounts on holiday and ferry bookings are available to you through the Travel Club. The telephone number is Freephone (0800) 626 928.

Mayday Bear - Colour Box Miniatures are well known for collectable pottery bears. They have produced a super little bear character called 'Mayday'. He wears full lifeboatman's outfit and has become a mascot for the Berwick-upon-Tweed lifeboat. He will be available in most good china shops and department stores from February. A royalty is received on every one sold.

A grand result Keith Graham, Exmouth lifeboat coxswain, was at The Anchor public house in Oldbury on Severn on 3 July to receive a cheque for £1,000 which had been raised by pub regulars.

Keith accepted the cheque at a supper which more than overflowed the pub and filled a large marquee in the grounds! Most of the money came from the pub's weekly Bonus Ball game -£1 a number to enter, £40 for the winner and £9 to the RNLI - and some from the proceeds of the supper.

But when the calculations had been done the final figure was found to be in the nine-hundreds - so the call went out to round it up to the magic four figures. Digging into their pockets the diners soon finished the job! Keith (left) is pictured receiving the final cheque from organiser Mike Dowdeswell.

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Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Roger Cork, made two presentations at the City branch AGM in May. The first was to Chairman Richard Charvet for his leadership of the City committee for 10 years. In that period he spearheaded the campaign which raised over £1.4m to fund the new Severn class lifeboat for Dover. Also honoured was Sheriff Keith Knowles who had been instrumental in putting together teams of collectors on flags days, raising over £50,000 in 10 years.

Kensington branch ladies held a coffee morning on 30 September at the home of Beti Gilbert, the branch honorary treasurer. The event included lunch and a bring and buy sale which raised £700 and RNLI gifts and souvenirs were sold to the value of just over £500.

The Mayoress of the Royal Borough, wife of the branch president, also visited the event.

The Cramer lifeboat will be able to have the mobile radio that it needs thanks to the £2,000 sent recently by the Hitchin and District branch to the regional office. Since the foundation of the branch in 1982 it has raised well over £100,000 for the RNLI! Members of Church Stretton branch recently completed their flag week and flag days around the three small towns in the local area. The collection totalled £2,550 - an increase of £242 over last year. The branch also found an amazing co-incidence - a member last year collected £56.27, this year covering the same area he again collected exactly £56.27! Preston Grange community centre recently celebrated its 25th anniversary by running a week of fundraising events, including domino and darts competitions.

On the last night of the week the social committee organised a party with live music, buffet and birthday cake and as a result of the week's events, £200 was raised and presented to Cullercoats lifeboat station.

For the last three years David and Jill Saffill and Margaret and Brian Atkinson neighbours in Galleywood near Chelmsford have opened their gardens in aid of the RNLI. They have raised almost £500 so far by their combined efforts and given enormous pleasure to all of those lucky enough to have been able to enjoy the beauty of their flowers and shrubs.

Arbroath ladies lifeboat guild recently held their bi-annual one day Caledonian market and raised over £8,000. Since 1983 they have raised over £53,500 for lifeboat funds.

Gala day The previously forecast sun failed to appear but did not prevent a crowd of 7,000 turning out to take part in Anstruther lifeboat station's 19th annual gala on Saturday 2 August.

The gala, which raised a magnificent £9,000 for lifeboat coffers, started with a parade of floats from the Anstruther holiday village, which was led to the sea front by the Dysart Silver Band. There were many events taking place on the day including the annual pub beer barrel race which started when the seven participating pub teams had finished building their race craft on the beach. The day featured many static displays including those from the Army, Navy, RAF, HM Coastguard, Fire Service, Police, Customs, Royal Mail, Heart Start and RAF Mountain Rescue. There were also displays of an open deck bus, a vintage fire engine and the Sea King helicopter from HMS Gannet which later gave a demonstration with Anstruther and Kinghorn lifeboats and HM Coastguard.

Supplying music on the day were B.O.F., who played foot tapping numbers from the 60s, the Dysart Silver Band and the Radio Tay roadshow which catered for all the chart requests. The usual food stalls, including hamburgers, kippers and pancakes catered for all the hungry visitors.

Hair today...

RNLI supporters are always on the look out for weird and wonderful fundraising ideas - this quarter the sponsored shave seems to be a popular choice.

Staff of the Cable & Wireless College raised £95 when they organised a sponsored shave.

Kevin Wheeler who kindly donated his beard to the cause is shown (right) just seconds before his beard was removed.

...gone tomorrow Tony Mundy, landlord of the White Hart in Orpington went the whole hog and had his head completely shaved in view of a full house! Tony, pictured left and getting in a bit of a lather, has already raised £441 in sponsorship - with a further £200 in pledges still to come. Tony's pub also raises a lot of cash for the local branch from collecting boxes and holding other regular fundraising events.

Getting pushy Members of Bilton Cricket Club, Harrogate (left), completed a 65 mile bed push from their clubhouse to Filey lifeboat station during September.

Teams of six took turns to push and with an overnight stop half way they reached Filey early afternoon the next day. The bed was pushed into the sea and 'rescued' by the inshore lifeboat.

As a result of sponsorship and other activities held at the club, over £2,800 was raised for the RNLI.

Scottish stride During April and May Keith Donald raised over £5,800 for RNLI Christchurch branch from a sponsored walk the length of Scotland - a distance of 420 miles! Keith completed the marathon on 3 June, having walked all the way from Kirk Yetholm, on the border, to Cape Wrath, the most northern point of the Scottish mainland, in 30 days.

Keith's wife, Pat, drove a support motor caravan each day providing sustenance on route while he averaged 14 miles a day along the planned route, some of which was trackless heather.

One day Keith completed 23 miles which is especially remarkable considering he had been in hospital only a year before to have a hip replacement operation.

Lifeboat supporters and friends from Christchurch and Bournemouth donated sponsorship money for this outstanding achievement - family and friends of Keith and Pat, even as far abroad as Warsaw and South Africa sent contributions.

The motor caravan driven by Pat was kindly loaned free of charge by Three Counties Motor Caravans, Christchurch.

Not all submissions received for the Winter 97/98 issue are featured and some may appear in a future issue..