Boxing Day splash It's amazing what lengths some fundraisers go to! This photograph shows Llanfairfechan branch chairman, Rob Shiland, leading intrepid sponsored 'splashers' down the slipway into the freezing Boxing Day brine.

The branch, only formed last September, raised £1,000 from the event which marked the launch of its fundraising programme.

Bill's Brownies Bill Coleman, Leamington Spa vice chairman, recently gave a talk on the lifeboat service to the 3rd Warwick (St. Nicholas) Brownie pack.

The Brownies raised some £66 by making gifts and decorations for Christmas and they donated all the cash to the RNLI. Bill presented Ihe girls with a special certificate with thanks for all their efforts.

Back in time Southport branch held a 1940s night at a local pub in March which proved to be a great success - raising £350 for lifeboat coffers.

Guests dressed up in old uniforms and were served an authentic 1940s meal of corned beef hash, and apple pie and custard.

Entertainment was supplied by George Formby look-alike, Anthony Mason, and there was music from two organists and a drummer.

Tony Parkinson gave an entertaining talk about his experiences in the army and hosed a 40s quiz.

Dancing day Loughton and district branch had the help of Chingford Morris dancers for the highlight of its recent lifeboat week.

The big day dawned bright and clear and the dancers put on five performances in local car parks and forecourts which boosted the branch's collection total by £152.

During house to house collections Jill Evans, branch assistant honorary secretary, was also given an unusual donation - a set of Morris bells for the dancers which the lady's son had previously worn over 20 years ago.

April pranksters The proprietor and regulars of the Coalbrookdale Inn in Shropshire formed a group to undertake fundraising events on 1 April each year - these usually involve a weird and surreal April Fool's Day prank.

This year's prank was a proposition that the Inn was originally an inland lifeboat station when the RNL! formed in 1824. The Inn was reopened as a lifeboat station on 1 April 1998 and a D class placed on station. During the day the lifeboat was 'launched' to the nearby town where collections resulted in a total of £900 raised for the RNLI.

Four runners Last September Gavin Roberts, Morton and Port Eynon crew member, decided to take part in the Swansea 10k race to raise money for the RNLI. He was joined by Brinley Hurford, Norton press officer, Steve Williams and Ian John - all four made sterling times and raised a total of £324.

Choral event The Macclesfield branch recently held its fourth concert at the local Heritage Centre.

Since 1990 the branch has organised an event every two years with the Orpheus Male Choir Rhos. The choir is known as one of the best in Wales and with their musical director, John Glyn Williams, they have helped to raise money for the RNLI for many years.

The last concert with guest soloists Celia Kite and David Jones (former RNLI North West regional organiser) raised £16,000 Pupils steel the day A team from the Medway branch held its flag day in Strood and Rochester in March, raising £1,122 -a £400 increase on last year.

This was helped by pupils from Temple School steel band based at Strood with their music teacher, Miss Church. They provided super entertainment for collectors, locals and visitors.

The event was also ably assisted by Peter Sadler, Rochester town crier, who made vocal contributions! wed ! x the Sumrnei 98 issue are featured and may acoeai m a tutwe issue Cash concerto The BT Scottish Ensemble lovingly brought the genius of Bach and Bartock to the ears of 220 guests at the Three Counties Gala concert in April. The event, organised by Axminster branch and held at the renowned Forde Abbey, was a tremendous success - raising £5,600 for lifeboat coffers.

Opening with a trumpet fanfare, the evening concluded with a cheque presentation by Lady Polworth, branch and concert chairman, to Andrew Young, South West regional manager.

15 years of racing Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the RNLI Henley half marathon proved again to be a great success, raising £3,000 in 1997. Over the years the race, organised by the Henley branch, has raised over £76,000 for the RNLI.

Bill Gristwood and Carrie Hoskins were the respective mens' and ladies' winners and on hand to greet them were Reg Foster and Tony Hobbs, Henley branch race organisers, and Phil Ball from National Mutual which sponsored both winners.

Flyby Sunday Branch cooperation was the name of the game at the Shepway Air Show at Folkestone in September. With the RNLI as nominated charity for the event, collections were made by Folkestone, Ashford, Dungeness, Dymchurch, Hythe, New Romney and Littlehampton branches and guilds - bringing in a total of £4,183.

Guest celebrity of Folkestone branch was Ron Lobeck (pictured centre), the popular weather forecaster for Meridian Television.

Double VIP party Welshpool ladies guild had two special guests attend its Summer party - The Mayor of Welshpool, Joan Thompson, and her sister Madge Richards, the Mayor of Montgomery. The party raised £612 for lifeboat funds and was held at the home of the branch chairman, Janet Bainbridge.

Two silver awards At the recent Hitchin and district branch AGM, Laura Fagg, senior area organiser for the Eastern region, presented silver badges to two committee stalwarts - souvenir secretary Mollie Russell and branch secretary Phil Parrish - for their years of valuable service.

During the previous financial year the branch raised more than £11,800 and the committee have set a target of £12,000 for the current year.

The 'Loony Dook' Over 40 hardy swimmers walked througth the streets of South Queensferry, led by a pipe band for the 11th annual 'Loony Dook' - swimming in the Firth of Forth on the 1 January- After a mad dash into the freezing waters, the swimmers, dressed in only T shirts and shorts and the odd suit, headed for the distant post some 100 yards offshore - and all made it back.

Queensferry's Atlantic 75 lifeboat stood by to rescue anyone in need, but thankfully they weren't needed.

RNLI governor, Stefan Gibson, raised £304 for the RNLI in sponsorhip .In Brief.. Jn Brief.. ..In Brief...In Bne At the Beachley Barracks, Chepstow over 230 people in 58 teams took part in an assault course challenge organised by the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Branches entered teams from many companies and organisations, together with friends and colleagues, who got together to tackle the military man-made obstacles. Despite the difficulty of scrambling over walls, negotiating ditches, swinging on ropes and scaling a 12ft wall, all teams completed the course and raised, through sponsorship, a magnificent £10,000.

On 14 March a capacity audience at the Festival Hall enjoyed a brilliant performance by the Guildford Choral Society, the City of London Choir and the Philharmonic Orchestra.

The choir donated concert seats to the RNU which had no trouble selling them - raising £15,000.

lJLJlJViJ(3(SiU U w viiu s-i s,* ,~ Fundraising choir, the Cromer Smugglers, make their mark as international favourites… Led by founder and Crorner lifeboat mechanic, Paul Wegg, the Smugglers - who recently raised the cash for a new D class lifeboat at Tynemouth - travelled into the Dutch unknown in March to give audiences a taste of their own unique rendition of shanties and folk music.

The organisers of 'A Night in Gale 2' international shanty festival at Umuiden snapped up the Smugglers after hearing just a few minutes of their new CD 'A New Dawn'.

At the Dutch port, the group wowed audiences during four gigs in 24 hours - so much so that they were immediately signed up by an agent wishing to sell the new CD on the Continent and were bombarded with requests for return visits.

The Smugglers have many national and international gigs coming up and are interested in performing at any lifeboat station in the UK and Ireland - for further information call (01263) 5122317 or (01263) 515432, CDs are available for £8 plus p&p from Bernie Walsh on (01263) 513376.

A fresh approach to the Corporate Sector James Vaughan has recently joined the RNLI as corporate relations manager. Coming from a marketing background, he plans to concentrate the RNLI's efforts on developing corporate relationships with a few high profile companies, rather than several small to medium sized companies.

James recognises that the link between charities and the corporate sector has come a long way in recent years. V think the days of company 'X' providing a large donation to the RNLI with nostrings- attached are limited. Instead, it's important to understand that potential corporate partners will be looking to achieve a business advantage... we need to understand the tremendous value of our brand and ensure that commercial partnerships are well balanced, providing the RNLI with a tangible benefit whilst ensuring they don't jeopardise the unique position we hold in the community'.

James used the example of the recent Toshiba sponsorship of the RNLI crew leggers' on the BT Global challenge, to demonstrate how these partnerships can work. Toshiba helped to provide funds for an Atlantic 75, which cost over £66,000, and in return, benefited from high profile publicity at the London Boat Show, several articles in national and business press, and the nautical theme linked in well with their current Whitbread Race activity, to mention but a few.

Big partnership deals take time to develop but, over the coming months, James and his team will be looking for pro-active links.

Current activity Royal Bank of Scotland - Harbour Account The Harbour Account interest rate has been revised and increased to make the product truly competitive with the rest of the market - offering up to 7.5% gross. If we can achieve the target of 2000 accounts opened, the Royal Bank will donate at least £50.000 to the RNLI. For full details, see the advert in this issue of The Lifeboat or call (0800) 555 818 and ask for Harbour Account.

P&O Swan Hellenic Cruises -10% saving This cruise company offers an educational rather than pure recreational cruise product. We have secured a 10% discounted rate for our members and if you would like more details on this, please call Nigel French On Long service ladies At the recent AGM of Anstruther lifeboat womens' guild, President Edith Clark, wife of lifeboat station's coxswain, John Clark, handed out eight long service certificates to guild members for service to the station.

The photograph shows (back from left to right): Mrs Jan Milne, Mrs Masie Watson, President Mrs Edith Clark, Coxswain John Clark, Mrs Isobel Gordon, Mrs Nancy Small, (front from left to right) Mrs Betty Gourlay, Mrs Sheena Tarvit, Mrs Thomasina Aitken and Mrs Jessie Smith.

Brighton branch have again beaten previous collection totals at the Brighton Boat Show - this year's show raised £2,156 -£1.406 of which was from collection boxes. The remainder was made up from souvenir sales, draw tickets and an Easter egg raffle. The branch also managed to sign up many new Shoreline and Offshore members Eric La, ui,*, uwni High Tide fish shop in Barkingside, was recently presented with a shield and certificate, on behalf of llford branch, in recognition of the collection box in his shop which reached a total of over £1.000 during the last nine years.

Although Chesterfield branch is geographically as far away from the coastline as it is possible to be, hard working members managed to raise FS Rnn/j.--—• from many famous people ~ including Her Majesty The Queen Mother! As a result of their hard work, a total of £1,842 was raised.

At a recent meeting of the Downend and Kingswood branch, Esme Rawlings presented a cheque to Chairman Steve Tomkins for £900, The money was donated in memoriam of Eric Laycock. owner of the prank Rawlings, Esme's late in Tirto f;« ~1" husband Frani/ *~* *--- _ u.y(iuy&, csme's It husband. Frank had been treasurer of the branch for 28 years until his death in October 1997.

Leamington Spa branch held a Christmas fair morning at the local Regent Hotel - raising £359 in an hour and a half.

Two events organised by Lytham ladies lifeboat guild raised £2,026 for the RNLIits Christmas fair raised £1.380 and a fashion show nrniinh* i» **"* .... .maiiiids ran ,y niKinoers managed £1.380 and a fas to raise £5,500 during the last brought in £646.

financial year - with a further The Simon, Cheam and Worcester Park branch held two collections at Safeway stores m Sutton just before Christmas and the St Mi hrtt. »-- „.._.«. rca. - wnn a further £1,524 coming from souvenir sales.

In September 1997 Cullercoats and Whitley Bay guild organised an auction sale and were successful in obtaining items centr after.raising a total of.