Sail Safari -- it's a lifeboat knockout! Using the 'It's a Knockout' theme, which has recently re-emerged into the limelight, the RNLI staged Sail Safari, an 'around the world boat race' in Battersea Park on 25 September. The event was part of the RNLI's 175th anniversary celebrations and raised over £13.000 for its brave lifeboat crews.

Adventurous teams of four, who had been busy collecting sponsorship money for months, turned up on the day ready to race with their imaginative hand built boats. Mojo, a boat in the shape of a bed with funky 70s design and Gone Bananas were just two of the amazing creations which turned up to compete.

Although the rain managed to hold off for most of the day, it didn't stop the teams from getting drenched while competing in V' jM fetaA/ .f m races on huge foamy inflatables. Participants were subjected to other crazy challenges and the Internationa! Guild of Knot Tyers posed a particularly dexterous challenge for the nimble fingered team members to unravel. Prizes were awarded for overall winner, best boat and to the team who raised the most cash.

For further information on this year's challenge event, contact Robin on (0171) 839 3369.

Band spirit Tynemouth lifeboat band, otherwise known as Lenny Park and the Pagers, have been gigging regularly to raise cash for lifeboat coffers.

To date the band has helped Supporters Ashore of the Lifeboat at Tynemouth (SALT) raise nearly C18,000 towards the purchase of their own Severn class lifeboat, Spirit of Northumberland. The SALT fundraising group consists of the families of past and present crew members and the band (pictured left) is mostly made up of the current lifeboat crew.

The crew and their families will continue the 'spirit' of RNLI fundraising and the band (pictured above) is available for bookings for a small fee.

Festive funds Dudley branch chairman, Karl Falk, gave up his Christmas Day and New Year's Eve to collect cash in memory of the lifeboat crew members who lost their lives in the Penlee disaster 18 years ago.

Karl (pictured above) was one of the people who took money to the victims' families in the wake of the disaster and helped collect £1,800 for the crews' widows and relatives.

He starts collecting a week before Christmas and finishes just before the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. '...otherwise I would get into trouble with my family.' he joked.OBrao When Douglas and Pamela Smith, owners of the Stromness Hotel in Stromness. got married in November they decided to hold the reception in their own hotel! Already having a plentiful supply of 'candlewick bedspreads, toasters and coasters', the couple requested that their guests make a donation to the RNLI instead of a wedding present. A che.que for £2,500 was presented to Captain Max Gunn, Chairman of Stromness station branch (pictured right with the newlyweds), at the reception with the final total coming to £2,710.

In July seven members of Aylesbury Green Park sub-aqua club completed a two-day bike ride and raised over £965 - half of which was donated to the lifeboats.

The event was a joint fundraising effort between the diving club and RNLI Aylesbury branch and took the cyclists on a 100 mile route from Aylesbury to Selsey Bill, taking them through Reading and towards Petersfield. The above picture shows the tired but happy riders at the finish line outside Selsey lifeboat station.

Stroud branch started off 1999 by taking an enthusiastic approach to the RNLI Badge Appeal.

Badge boxes were placed in virtually every business in Stroud and outlying districts. As a result Vice Chairman Dinah Taylor found a contact at the local building society who agreed to place badge boxes at the society's 28 branches across the UK for 6 weeks. Income from this source so far is well over £1,900.

The Lifeboat Challenge was the next target and by distributing leaflets and making personal approaches to individuals, the Ross Divers Challenge Team entered and produced £2,640 in sponsorship.

In all, Stroud and district branch increased its fundraising totals by over £4,500 last year by 'winning fundraising friends'.The 1st Great Barfordand Blunham Brownies raised over £212 for the RNLI following a talk by Biggleswade branch presenter and box secretary, Matthew Kilpin.

The brownies, aged between six and seven years old, were very keen to learn all about lifeboats and as a result joined Storm Force, the RNLI's club for young people, and held a 90-minute bazaar to raise money for the branch.

The girls sold cakes, refreshments, bric-a-brac and organised games, while Biggleswade branch members sold pin badges and raffle tickets from their souvenir stall and organised a 'guess the name of the lifeboatman' game.Money in memory Following the untimely death of Phil Doolan of Fareham, his family asked that money be donated to the RNLI as he was a keen sailor and dinghy instructor.

Phil was a consultant in the defence industry and had a long association with the design of the Combat System of Type 23 Frigates for the Royal Navy. The above photograph shows his sons, Anthony, Jonathon, Timothy, Robert and Edward with a cheque for £1,229 during a conducted tour of HMS Westminster. The cash was donated by family, friends, colleagues and Phil's employers at the Land Based Test Site at Portsdown in Hampshire.Photo: East Anglian Daily Times The East Anglian Daily Times newspaper has raised £50,000 towards the new boathouse at Harwich through its Heroes at Sea Appeal.

As part of the appeal, all schools throughout Suffolk and Essex received an RNLI schools activity pack to encourage awareness and teach sea safety with the opportunity of hosting a fundraising event.

Gazeley primary school had the greatest number of participating pupils taking part in the event and as a result won a £1.300 computer donated to the appeal by Hewlett Packard.

The above picture shows pupil Karla Jarman with the competition prize receiving a satchel from RNLl Area Organiser Patsy Johnson.Super supper The ladies of Llantwit Major lifeboat guild held their Christmas supper in December - the fourth time in the perfect setting of the historic St Donat's Castle.

The home cooked meal together with rousing carol singing and dancing to the Lighthouse Duo was a recipe for a huge success and raised nearly £5.000 for the RNLI in the process.

The photograph shows members of the guild with Atlantic College lifeboat secretary, Gareth Rees, and kitchen helpers of St Donat's Castle.Nine businessmen, all friends and members of South Caernarfon Yacht Club (and fondly known locally as 'The fat boys'), decided to have a bash in aid of the RNL1 at the end of the 1999 sailing season. A dinner dance with auctions, raffles and perhaps, a little arm-twisting realised a whopping £9,000 in one night.

The timing coincided perfectly with the arrival on station of two new outboard engines for the inshore lifeboat at a cost of exactly £9,000 - so now Abersoch station crew and VIPs say that their lifeboat is powered by 'The fat boys'! Chris Hoffman of McMurdo Marine (left) handed over a cheque for over £3,000 to RNLI Director, Andrew Freemantle, at the London Boat Show 2000.

The money was raised in support of the RNLI's 175th anniversary from the sales of special promotional packs of marine safety equipment from the Pains-Wessex safety systems range.

Pains-Wessex has a long relationship with the RNLI and for many years has supplied marine distress signals and smokes to its lifeboat fleet.Crew Training Boost - The last few months have seen generous support from several companies, giving a major boost to the Crew Training Appeal. During a recent fundraising day in the City of London, traders from Deutsche Bank raised a magnificent £50,000 for the RNLI, which has been allocated to crew training at three Welsh stations. Global pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca has also recently donated £20,000 to sponsor the crew training at Cardigan station, and following a highly successful on-pack promotion last year, seafood manufacturer Dawnfresh presented the RNLI with a cheque for £13,500, which has gone towards training at Largs.

Powerful Addition - The RNLI's Sea Safety team recently welcomed a new addition to their fleet of vehicles, in the form of a mobile exhibition trailer. The trailer, worth over £30,000, was donated by British Nuclear Fuels and will be used to promote Sea Safety messages around the UK and Ireland. Following their support of the 175"' Roadshow last year, Vauxhall have agreed to loan another Frontera 4 x 4 to the RNLI. This time the smartly liveried vehicle will be used by Sea Safety to promote their Sea Check scheme of free safety checks for boats.

On Target - The Lifeboats MasterCard, run by the Royal Bank of Scotland in support of the RNLI, is set to raise its first Million in 2000. The Royal Bank donates £10 for every new cardholder and 25p for every £100 spent. In recent years some of the money raised by the 12,000 cardholders has gone towards one of the Mobile Crew Training Units. If you haven't already got a Lifeboats MasterCard, now is the time to apply. In April this year the APR will be reduced from 19.9% to 18.9% and the card now includes free travel accident insurance. For details and an application form call 01202 663213.

Also on target is the Marine Insurance Scheme from Bishops Skinner.

After a year as official insurance scheme for Offshore members. Bishops Skinner are expected to donate £10,000 to the RNLI.

Kodak on-board - You will have noticed a new look photo-processing envelope included with this issue.

We are delighted to announce that the RNLI are now working with Kodak, to bring you a top quality processing service that also benefits your favourite charity. We're celebrating with a new photography competition, with great prizes sponsored by Kodak - see news pages for details. Please note that this service replaces the old RNLI Express Film Service, although outstanding orders will be honoured.

Finally a big thank you for your fantastic response to the piece in the previous issue about the RNLI Small Shares Scheme. We have been inundated with your unwanted shares to be sold to raise money for the RNLI.Father Christmas doesn't just give presents to good little boys and girls - he raises cash for needy causes too! In November, Stafford with Rugeley branch transported Santa by speedboat to his grotto at the Wyevale garden centre near Rugeley. The grotto was manned every weekend by branch members and, as well as keeping the children happy, managed to raise £840 for the lifeboats.

The picture shows Santa (also known to some as branch vice chairman Cliff Hart!} together with helper Jennifer Barren, branch press officer.

The things some people do to raise money for the lifeboats! Beryl Cole from Exmouth secretly sent in this picture of her husband, Brian. The couple were at an outside event in Exeter and Brian had his face painted to raise some cash for lifeboat coffers.

After the event Brian and Beryl went shopping at the local supermarket - you can imagine some of the looks and comments they got!,Dra [I [ C undraising stalwart Willoughby LI Ganon celebrated his 70th birthday last June- with his family throwing him a suprise party.

Friends were asked to make donations to the KM i instead of buying presents and with 60 guests attending lifeboat funds hencritted to ihe tune of £460. The highlight of the lunch was a lifeboat cake which was piped on board by Willoughby's four grandchildren to the tune of 'What shall we do with a drunken Grandpa?1 ('htusloM branch «ere truly inspired when they invited Robin Stubhs. head of music at Si Johns School inTutshill to help them organise a lilting RNLI 175th celebration. The branch succeeded in bringing together four local music groups to provide their own characters site contribution to the evening's entertainment under Robin's direction. The generous response of the audience and many others enabled the branch committee to boost lifeboat coffers by £1,400.

llMhi-anrf district branch held their annual Great raft race in August anil were pleasantly supnsed to raise £.'. 1 1 5 for the event. The race was sponsored by Courage Breweries and local businesses. A total of 11 rafts entered with Calshot lifeboat and the station inflatable in attendance.

Race winner was Shaky- Sue enetered by Southampton ambulance station, closely followed by Hobbits Special entered by Hobbits wine bar, ll.ii in ii branch secretary Pam Horsley, told The Lifeboat about ihe novel way in which her daughter Rachel and son-in-law Tim raised money for :iluiti;i lifeboat during Christmas. The couple, who live in Killamey, decorated their house and driveway with 5.000 Christmas lights.

Following interviews on the local radio. Rachel and Tim invited the public tn view the decorations .md make a donation to the RNLI. In one e ening alone they counted 29 cars coming up their dm e and within three weeks had raised £912.

In October Judith Edwards and her friend Dawn held an early Chrismas craft sale and raffle in the small town of Bungay. Suffolk, The event raised £410 which was presented to the crew of (i rvui Yarmouth iind (iorlcslmi lifeboat.

Knllmi branch were presented with a painting of a Moelfre lifeboat rescue by local UHIM David Thorp. Branch members decided to raffle the painting for lifeboat funds, raising £1.500 in the process.

A It-shun mill iljslrk'l branch held a quiz based on Christinacarols, songs and tunes, organised by Ann Grant and Geoff Aldridge, which raised nearly £800.

Chingford Morris dancer collected £112 during their 175 Essen dance tour of local pubs in September. A happy fundruismg day was had by all and the collection was handed over to Mr M Evans, Lotif hton branch secretary.

Following a lour of the new Tynemnuih lifeboat. Spirit of Northumberland, South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade held a special fundraiMiig folk night in December at the South Shu-Ids sailing club - raising £330 towards the Tynemouth appeal, Eighty-year-old Jack Mills of Ihe Cardinal! branch completed a sponsored 'pre-millenium ascent of Snow don' ai the end of last year, raising £457 for RNLI funds.

I ci « LI k ladies lifeboal guild raised £3.IOOai its annual ball in October. The annual raffle which was drawn at the ball took in another £2.700 resulting in a grand total of £5,800.

A brilliant evening in v i l i . i i n l u last June saw 700 people thoroughly enjoying themselves in the company of Kenny Ball, Jean Genie (David Bowie covers band) and Gareth Chilcott - and boosting lifeboal coffers by £10,750. A large portion of tin- grand total came from a special donation and £500 was included as advance proceeds from the sale of Salcombe lifeboat crew's CD, 'Until the sea rundry'.

The songs were recorded by local producer Phil Johnvume specifically to raise funds at the ball - bui the CD has been particularly successful, with generous coverage by local radio.

Copies are still available from VeKet Records. Salcombe. Tel (015481 844299. email: horsecombe@aol com In October, l. l[;li;isliin and ll.n tuTiu guild, with ihe help of Samanlha's (fashions) Moseley.

presented an anniversary fashion gala. This included a very successful raffle with manyspectacular prizes and an appearance by the talented young dancers of the Scanlan School of Irish Dance. The evening was enjoyed by all and raised £3.844.

In December Les Jackson and Huh Reader from Croydon had their hair cut (for the lirsl time since I970!)ai their local pub. Ye Oldc Dog and Bull, in aid of the RNLI. The event was supported by landlord Alan Arrowsmith. with raffle pri/es. including champagne and large hampers of fruit and veg. helping to raise the total insnme£1.HK).TheRNl.l w represented bj Utsi uUi.un hnuKli VIPs and Sue Hay wood from the Inshore Lifeboat Cenire at Cowes. An excellent buffet was bid on by the landlord and everyone enjoyed a most successful evening.

We are always pleased to receive ;m material intended for publication. However, due to space restrictions and ihe huge quantity of submissions received, it is impossible to publish every iimcle receded.

In order to keep administration cost-, down, contributions will not usually be acknowledged. Every contribution is considered and we do try to be as fair as possible. So keep those articles coming in mr- could be featured next time..