CAMPAIGN h LIH Rt AL ALL Somerset branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) held its annual festival at Minehead last year - raising over £1,000 for local good causes.

Minehead lifeboat guild was a major beneficiary and guild chairman Tony Wood was presented for a cheque for just under £534 in April, We hear that CAMRA representatives enjoyed their visit to the town (and possibly the beer?) so much that they will be returning later this year. CAMRA chairman, Alan Walker, has already advised that the RNLI will again benefit from the festival proceeds. Cheers!Boxing Day race goers and sponsors in Cambridgeshire donated nearly £1,700 to the lifeboats during the RNLI Huntingdon Race Day.

Laura Fagg, eastern region senior area organiser, approached Huntingdon Steeplechases regarding a race day and they offered the busiest day of the year - attracting 8,000 enthusiasts. Area organiser Patsy Johnson volunteered to help collect and the local Huntingdon branch sold souvenirs on the freezing festive day.

Pictured are Patsy (centre) and Laura presenting a prize to Jonathan Hart of Bromsgrove, owner of the winning horse in the race sponsored by lottery winner and RNLI supporter Doug Wood.The weird and wonderful Prize Old Mummers, a group of 'am-dram' actors from Emsworth, have been raising cash for their friends at the local lifeboat branch again.

This year the Mummers collected in various pubs and clubs while entertaining punters with their humourous play about St George and the dragon. In April Emsworth chairman, Thelma Parham (pictured centre with the Mummers) was invited to the Emsworth Slipper Club and was delighted to receive a cheque for £1,000 from the group's efforts.

Freemasons raise a grand The Royal Naval Lodge in Yeovil recently presented a cheque for £1,000 to the Weston-super-Mare branch.

The Master of the Lodge, Peter Williams, an ex-naval aircrewman, nominated the RNLI as his chosen charity.

The cheque was handed over by Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Somerset, Vernon Harding, to Terry Clapp, branch chairman.Mediterranean barby Dooker dosh Despite the rigours of the Sierra Leone emergency, relief work in Mozambique and peace keeping duties off Albania last year, officers and personnel aboard RFA Fort George found time to lighten up life with fundraising activities for the lifeboat service back home.

They managed to drop anchor for a few hours and rigged up a barbecue together with the famous Fleet Air Arm 'Flying Tigers' 814 Squadron.

Together with collections the event raised £557 for the RNLI. Photo: ©Susan Rose, HMSDrake. Devonpon The 'Loony dockers', regulars from The Moorings lounge bar in South Queensferry who braved the icy waters of the Firth on New Year's Day, raised £2,300 for local charities as a result of their madcap escapade.

The RNLI was a major beneficiary of the event together with The Care in the Community Project and the South Queensferry Sea Cadets who also received cheques.

The picture shows Ruth Usher, proprietor of The Moorings (second left), presenting a cheque for £1,000 to South Queensferry lifeboat crew members Jonathan Beamish and Scott Boyd (right) watched by Loony dookers David Steel, Anne Marie O'Neill, Pete Jackson and Ian Young.Lifeboat-related reading The rescues of Henry Blogg and the crews of the Cromer lifeboats is a collection of 39 captivating watercolours by marine artist Mick Bensley.

reconstructing the dramatic rescues and superb seamanship of famous Cromer lifeboat coxswain Henry Blogg. The paintings cover Henry's entire career starting with his first trip aged 18 in 1894 through to his last aged 71 in 1948. Complete with gripping rescue accounts and foreword by HRH The Duke of Kent, this fascinating book is published by Benngunn and is available from all good book shops priced at £30 (ISBN 1-85770-229-8).

Cornwall's lifeboat heritage by Nicholas Leech tells the story of the lifeboat service in Cornwall, how the boats developed and describes in detail each station around the coast of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

This colourful and interesting guide is just one in a series of Cornwall heritage books published by Twelveheads press and is available from all good book shops priced at £3.95 (ISBN 090629443-6).

Jeff Morris, honorary archivist of the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society, has done his usual excellent job in researching the history of lifeboats in two of his latest books covering Hastings and Teignmouth stations.

The story of the Hastings lifeboats costs £3.50 (inc. p&p) and is available from Mrs S Hawley, c/o Hastings lifeboat station, The Stade, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 8AR.

Please make cheques payable to RNLI.

The history of the Teignmouth lifeboats is available direct from Jeff Morris for £2.50 (inc. p&p) at 14 Medina Road, Coventry, CV6 5JB.St Mawgan backs the crewOfficers and staff of RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall have been busy raising money for their local lifeboat stations this year.

In January US Navy Captain Walter Scull, commanding officer of the Joint Maritime Facility based at RAF St Mawgan, and staff donated three sets of wet weather gear to the crew of Pad stowlifeboat. Station secretary George Phillips said, 'This is a great gift as these suits take a terrible battering but are essential to protect the crew at sea/ Later in March, during a combined Sea King helicopter and lifeboat exercise, Flight Sergeant 'Antz' Males, a winchman with 203{R) Squadron 'dropped in' to present a cheque for £100 to crew members of Rock inshore lifeboat. The donation came from RAF St Mawgan's station charities committee in response to a request for help in funding the lifeboat which sees plenty of action throughout the year.Our friends in Saudi.

You'd be amazed at how far around the world support for the RNLI reaches. Employees of BAe Systems, who live in Saudi Arabia, attend a club, The Cage, which has raised a staggering £16,000 for the RNLI over the last eight years.

The employees may be land locked at a height of 7,000ft on the other side of the world but they have not forgotten the work of the lifeboats. Cash has been raised from collection boxes and a variety of different events including raffles, special music sessions and, more recently, head shaving days.

The above photo shows some of the committee members and guests in 'The Cage' - can you spot the recently shaved heads?Fundraising in disguise..

Over 150 mystery guests from al! over Gloucestershire enjoyed a masked ball in February, which raised an impressive £5,500 for the lifeboats.

The event, staged in the Pittville Pump Room in Cheltenham, was sponsored by many companies and individuals and saw guests really entering into the spirit of the occasion by wearing all sorts of wild face gear.

The generosity of the guests and sponsors, together with the hard work and cooperation of the Cheltenham, Newent, Tewkesbury and North Cotswold branches - members of the Gloucestershire Coordinating Lifeboat Group - made the night a roaring success.www.lifeboats.org.uk The RNLI's award winning web site is now getting one million hits every month. With new sections regularly being brought online, there is always something fresh to explore.

Why not take a look at the new waves section, in which maritime journalist Carol Rowitt introduces a new concept for improving maritime safety, with positive views from industry and the user. Alternatively, take a look at Watermark online, our own online shop with a great selection of merchandise that you can order securely over the web.

Save up to 15% on cover Following the launch in the Spring issue of BRITANNIA fJF this special deal for RESCUE to •• RNLI supporters, there has been a great deal of interest in this offer.

Not only will this be good for the motorists concerned but, with a commission on each policy taken out, its good for the RNLI as well. See the full page advert in this issue or call 0800 591 563 for more information.

Thanks to Vauxhall For the third year running, Vauxhall have again loaned us a Frontera 4x4 to support our Sea Safety roadshow around the country - this is a fantastic way of Vauxhall helping us to cut costs in promoting safety messages to a wide audience all round the UK.The Great Cowes Caper Join us on the great Cowes Canpr dUC I ST— nMfrVP- •! ' This year's Skandia Life Cowes week, running from 4-11 August, promises to be the biggest and best ever festival of sailing and the RNLI is thrilled to be the official charity.

For the first time in the history of the event, over 1,000 boats are expected to compete, including some of the world's largest yachts. As the official charity, the RNLI is providing an exciting range of fun and games for crew members and spectators to enjoy during this year's yachting spectacle.

From team fundraising competitions to safety events, the RNLI aims to raise awareness of its work and have fun raising money. Cowes provides an ideal platform to promote various new initiatives and sea safety messages and part of the fundraising capers will be recruiting new Offshore members with a bottle of champagne sponsored by Mumm.

If you are in the area, please drop by the RNLI stand, you are assured a warm welcome..