Celebration challenge London's Lakeside shopping centre was the setting for a unique anniversary fundraising event in August.

The Yamaha/RNLI challenge saw Lakeside staff competing against their retail rivals in a series of land and water competitions. Teams from many well-known companies scaled walls manoeuvred inflatables and bikes, and negotiated obstacle courses.

The day is thought to have raised well over £5,000 for the RNLI.

Anniversary ball Boston Spa ladies guild held an SOS Ball at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate on 27 February to celebrate the RNLI's anniversary.

Chairman Jane Mallinson and committee members put in a tremendous amount of work in obtaining sponsorship and ensuring all who attended had a wonderful evening.

The ball was a huge success, raising more than £9,500 for Institution coffers.

Choral weekend Many branches and guilds organised special church services in honour of the RNLI's 175th birthday in March.

Wisbech and Ely branches joined forces to organise a commemorative service which soon blossomed into an entire weekend of activities, including an antiques roadshow and many displays - with a choral evensong at Ely Cathedral on the Sunday as a grand finale.

Padstow brunch For their 175th celebrations in March, Padstow ladies lifeboat guild enjoyed a highly successful anniversary brunch overlooking the local lifeboat and station.

The event, hosted by local fundraising stalwarts Mr and Mrs Nigel Gluckstein, was attended by some 200 people and raised a whopping £5,850.

Case winner! Congratulations to Jenny Bell of Shropshire who won the competition in the Summer issue of The Lifeboat. Readers were invited to describe RNLI Celebration Ale in less than 15 k words. Jenny's winning entry was 'Delicious to savour, full rounded flavour, a celebration and lifesaver!' The beer is still available in several supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury - so make sure you stock up for the winter and have plenty of supplies in reserve.

Frontera to the rescue Thanks to Vauxhall Motors, who have loaned the RNLI a smart Frontera 4x4 estate to help the 175th Roadshow team get around the country. The blue vehicle sports the RNLI livery and no one will be in any doubt about which charity the vehicle is supporting! The vehicle will be travelling to all corners of the UK with the anniversary team and will help spread the anniversary message.

Plymouth Gin takes advantage of the Eclipse Plymouth Gin, which makes a donation to the RNLI for every bottle sold, took advantage of the eclipse rush to the westcountry with special signs on the outskirts of Plymouth.

Hiring fields beside the A38 they erected look-alike road signs proclaiming 'Welcome to Plymouth twinned with tonic!' Hopefully as a result of these ads, several would-be eclipse watchers consoled themselves over the cloudy weather with a stiff Plymouth gin and tonic and thereby increasing donations! http: www. rnli. org. uk » L« — fe **• t* . .

The current RNLI website (above! is due to be replaced by the end of the year Watch this space because we are currently developing a new web site for the RNLI, which is due to go live at the end of the year.

The new site will aim to provide surfers with regularly updated news on RNLI events, RNLI fundraising activities in your area, which lifeboats are currently at sea on shouts, a special section for mariners and much much more. We hope to bring you a full review in the next issue.

We continue our look at branches and guilds who encourage individuals and groups from the local community to get involved with organising fundraisng activities and events… Constabulary choir The Royal Ulster Constabulary choir recently held a number of concerts in the Ulster Hall raising £4,329 for Portrush lifeboat.

The photograph (right) shows Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan handing the cheque over to John Scott, Portrush lifeboat station secretary.

Auto endurance Richard and Nicola Jeyes (below right) completed an Auto Endurance Challenge in June, which raised over £1,000 for Callington branch RNLI.

The challenge ran from Lands End to John O'Groats and back again, covering 1,689 miles which Richard and Nicola managed to complete in 39 hours. The team are continuing their support for the RNLI and are already planning a more difficult challenge for the future! Fun day launch The David Lloyd club in Birmingham held a fun day during the Spring, raising £250 for RNLI Birmingham branch.

The day, sponsored by 'Whitbread in the Community', was attended by both members and guests and acted as a curtain raiser to many other events at the club celebrating the RNLI's 175th anniversary. The picture shows (L to R): Cynthia Arnold, Front of house manager, Samantha West, fitness instructor (and mermaid!) and Martin Burson, Birmingham branch secretary.

Clubbing together In February Hampstead and Yalding cruising club presented a cheque for £1,300 to Sheerness lifeboat VIPs.

The money was collected mainly at a fun day held on the River Medway last August, plus other cash collected by members throughout the year.

Mayor's charity Jean Rowe, the new Mayor of Restormel Borough Council in Cornwall (below), chose the RNLI as one of three charities which will benefit from an official programme of fundraisng during her year in office.

The programme kicked off with a busy coffee morning in July, which was assisted by St Austell and district branch members. Many other events are planned for the future, including a lunch, a garden party and a concert.

Bearmania in Berwick In June, an entire weekend of 'beary' celebrations at Berwick raised an impressive £25,000 for charities - with the local lifeboat station receiving over £6,800 from the coffers.

The event brought together avid bear collectors from all over Europe to bid for highly-detailed miniature sculptures and part of the famous Colour Box Collection. The weekend provided masses of entertainment and Berwick lifeboat station was open to visitors. The station's D class, Sunrise, was featured in a special sculpture with Mayday bear (pictured left with TV star Ruth Madoc and Berwick crew members Phil Patterson and Peter Blanch) sitting aboard on his first shout! Sunbeam presentation Veteran broadcaster, Raymond Baxter, received a cheque for £162 on behalf of the RNLI from' the Sunbeam Rapier owners club on 6 June. The money was raised by a road rally staged by the club last Autumn to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Rootes Competition Department.

Raymond, an RNLI Vice President, is an honorary member of the Rapier Club and his rallying career included many drives in Sunbeam Rapiers for the Rootes works team in the late 50s and early 60s.

Checking in at St Davids In June, representatives of the Civil Service Motoring Organisation (CSMA), together with Frizzell Financial Services, presented St Davids lifeboat station honorary secretary with a cheque for £19,000 The sum was raised by the organisation's members to buy extra equipment for the St Davids Tyne class lifeboat following her recent overhaul and refit. The CSMA has over 335,000 members and has raised over £320,000 for the RNLI since 1984.

Inland lifeboat loan Shoppers 30 miles inland got a surprise in June when they were greeted by a Brede class lifeboat 'manned' by local volunteers in Brentwood High Street.

The lifeboat, a large scale model complete with a 'mini crew member', was on loan from Thurrock branch and helped Brentwood and district branch collectors bring in nearly £860 on the sunny Saturday afternoon.

Open Day St Catherine's lifeboat station held an Open Day on 27 June attracting over 2,000 visitors and raising £3,000 in the process.

The station's Atlantic lifeboat was centred within various attractions including the Channel Island air search display, a Sea King from 771 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose and various stalls.

Recycling cash Barbara Robinson, waste recycling officer for West Somerset district council, came up with a novel fundraising idea which was both profitable to the RNLI and friendly to the environment.

To generate interest from local residents to recycle newspaper and similar, Barbara came up with a scheme to donate a percentage of the money raised from the sales. Minehead lifeboat was the first to benefit from the scheme which took place over a 12 month period, raising £440.

Dry suit collection The Bell Inn in Burwash, East Sussex recently collected £500 to buy dry suits for two Hastings lifeboat crew members.

In February a cheque for the amount was handed to Hastings branch chairman, Douglas Edwards, by proprietor Mrs Barrett who was supported by family and pub regulars.

Concerted effort South Bristol branch held a concert at its local college featuring the mandolin, guitar and banjo group, Fingers and Frets with branch secretary, Neil Gow, on guitar.

During the interval, Norman Bowler (Frank Tate from TV's 'Emmerdale'), read the story of the Lynmouth lifeboat overland launch and members of the comedy group The Clangers' presented a cheque to boost lifeboat funds by a further £609.

Fundraising guides 'Robin Patrol' of 2nd Glascote Guides in Tamworth recently organised a beetle drive and coffee morning - raising £50 for the RNLI in under two hours.

The girls invited Miss Chris Muspratt, the local branch secretary, to receive their cheque who in turn showed them a video and spoke about the work of the lifeboats.

Lodge outing In April members of the Facta non Verba Lodge 3049 met Newhaven lifeboat VIPs to present them with a cheque for £2,000.

As a token of thanks members of the local crew invited lodge officals out on exercise to give them a taste of lifeboat work. We're told that the guests enjoyed their experience even though one or two admitted to feeling a bit green by the end of it! Rriaf.

Shcringham branch celebrated the RNLl's anniversary by arranging a display of the town's historic lifeboats for two weeks in July. As well as celebrating the occasion, branch members also set themselves the target of raising £12,500 to purchase a new D class for the fleet. To help raise this sum the branch have produced a quality collectors 175 brochure, a commemorative cover and a set of postcards all of which are available from the RNLI shop in Shcringham High Street or by phoning (01263) 821601.

Ralph and Sandy Benson of Cheshire raised £304 fortheRNLI when they recently walked from St Mawes in Cornwall to Salcombe in Devon along the South West coastal path.

In June Wooton Bassett and district branch held a successful supper party which was attended by branch VIPs and honoured guest. Norris McWhirterof TV's 'Record Breakers'. Guests sat down to a hog roast supper helping to raise over £2,400.

Moelfre lifeboat station held an open day in June which was attended by over 300 visitors and raised over £2.000. A marquee was set up next to the station to house various stands including a cake stall . tombola, lucky dip and barbecue. A buffet was also held in the evening with a bar and disco.

An open garden morning organised by St Albans and district branch was attended by the Mayor of Si Albans and his wife and raised more than £500 for the RNLI. The event was hosted by committee member, Jean McCunn and visitors were invited to wander her garden to purchase plants, cakes and souvenirs.

Tcignmouth guild together with Shaldon and Newton Abbott branches organised a celebration fete at Teignmouth in June, raising over £4,000. The fete had an all-day entertainment programme, including sky divers, a jazz band, line dancers and accordion bands. There was also an art exhibition, a coffee morning and cream teas at the local theatre.

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