It was around this time last year that the Oban lifeboat crew saved the life of an unconscious man who was trapped in icy waters between two fishing vessels in Oban harbour (see winter 2001/02 issue, p.18). The crew's pagers went off when most of the town was safely tucked up in bed and the station's Trent class lifeboat, Mora Edith MacDonald. arrived on scene just five minutes later.

This was a tricky rescue as the man was suffering from cold and exposure, and it was blowing a Near Gale Force 7, creating confused seas for the lifeboat to navigate.

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending thanks to the bravery and skill of the crew and their state-of-the-art lifeboat, which was instrumental in carrying out the rescue and saving the man's life.

This all-weather lifeboat cost £1.175m when it was built in 1997 and the RNLI was able to fund her thanks to the £649,000 bequest of Miss Mora Edith MacDonald, together with several other legacies. It is, therefore, no surprise that this type of income is vital to maintain a modern and efficient lifeboat service. Naturally, the RNLI welcomes all legacies, large or small, as they all count towards the important total - whether they provide a whole lifeboat or a pair of yellow wellies. Without them the lifeboat crews could not do their job and that is why the RNLI is so grateful to anyone who remembers the lifeboats in their will.

'If the campaign succeeds in only encouraging an additional 2% of the population to remember a charity in their will, it would provide the voluntary sector with an extra £170m every year. That's more than the income generated by Live Aid' - David BrannLegacies provide almost a third of the total income of the top 500 charities and the RNLI relies on them more than most - in 2000 they represented more than half of its total income. However, they remain the most unpredictable source of funding for all charities.

For the past 12 years around 13% of wills that go to probate include a charitable bequest, yet 67% of the population claim to support chanties on a regular basis during their lifetime. Research shows that the main reason that more supporters do not leave a legacy is simply that they never get round to it.

With this in mind, a number of charities got together last year to form the Legacy Promotion Campaign (LPC). David Brann, the RNLI'sfundraising and marketing director, was instrumental in getting the ball rolling and spent a six-month secondment as campaign director.

The purpose of the campaign is to increase the number of people leaving something to charity in their will - any charity' says David. 'If the legacy campaign succeeds in only encouraging an additional 2% of the population to remember a charity in their will, it would provide the voluntary sector with an extra £170m every year. That's more than the income generated by Live Aid.' The LPC, which will run initially for three years, has a consortium of over 70 members including many high-profile charities such as Oxfam, NSPCC and the RSPCA. This provides the campaign with a rich background of expert knowledge, skills and resources to draw on. Although recruitment has exceeded expectations - more than double the initial target - the number signed up only represents a tiny fraction of the total number of charities in the country so new members are actively being encouraged to join the fold.

Of course, the cost of such a venture is not insignificant and member organisations help finance the campaign, including all administration and running costs. The lifeboat service got together with the National Trust in October to host a meeting for the chief executives of participating charities to agree funding for the campaign.

'This will be money well spent as legacies are the most cost effective form of fundraising' David explains. 'Although £1 spent on other forms of fundraising will typically raise less than £4 in donations, the same amount spent on generating legacy income is likely to raise more than £30.' So for many of its members, if the campaign raises just one additional residuary legacy, it will have partly or wholly covered its subscription.

David has completed his stint as director and will now act as chairman of the LPC's steering group.

Theresa Dauncey, head of national fundraising for the RNIB, is the new director.'There is still a great deal of work to be done' David says. 'In addition to raising the funds needed to run the campaign, we are working to forge strong alliances with other organisations that can help us achieve our goal. In particular, we are working closely with the Giving Campaign, which was launched by the Treasury, Inland Revenue, Charities Aid Foundation and the National Council of Voluntary Organisations to promote the government's new tax incentives for charitable giving. We are also working hand in hand with the Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers who provide us with corporate structure and banking facilities.' With the recent appointment of a marketing agency, the Legacy Promotion Campaign is now poised to move into its crucial next phase which sees its work being researched and tested in the run up to the full launch to the general public towards the end of 2002.

Making a will The RNLI strongly recommends you make a will, whether or not you wish to include charities. A helpful legacy information pack, including the video The value of time, is available free from John Marshall, legacies enquiry officer on 01202 663032.

Once you have read it, the RNLI recommends the use of a solicitor to help you write the will in a way that properly reflects all your wishes. Home-made wills or those drawn up by people with no legal training can cause problems.

Finally, do review your will every few years or when there is a significant change in your life or circumstances. Codicils, using a solicitor, should be a cheap and easy way of keeping your will up to date.An excellent way for branches and guilds to raise money within their community is to ask groups, clubs, businesses and individuals to do a fundraising event for their branch or guild.

Just one example of how this is working is the fundraising friendship between Margate fundraising branch and the Rebel Dance troupe. Following a little polite persuasion from branch committee member Heather Samuel, the troupe agreed to put on a special charity show and line dancing party, which raised more than £2,500 for the lifeboats.

The event, held on 19 October, was a great success with around 250 revellers putting on their stetsons and joining in the dancing at the Margate Winter Gardens.

The Starlight Dance School also performed during the evening and an auction was held which saw some fierce bidding. Among the lots was an Albert Square road sign, autographed by the cast of EastEnders. which raised £130, and a painting donated by a local Thanet artist, which raised a further £500.

Margate branch chairman Derek Amas said 'Thank you to everyone who made this happen. The Winter Gardens was very welcoming and the evening was a huge success!'Musical support In November, the Forth Dimension Musical Society put on five performances of Fiddler on the Roof at South Queensferry High School in Lothian - helping to raise £180 for Queensferry lifeboat. The society put on a production each year and invite a different chanty to collect after the shows.

The above picture shows members of the cast (L- R): Steven Burnett, Theresa McPhee, Jim Porter, Mhairi Sheail and Walter Taylor.

He can bear~ly wait - Berwicks Bear, AKA crew member Alistair Laing, waits excitedly for the opening of the Berwickupon- Tweed fete on 11 August. Over 2,000people attended the event, which included a stunning search and rescue display, and raised more than £5.500 for the lifeboat service.In December, Mr and Mrs Brian Mackey from Edgware, Middlesex were thrilled to learn that they had snapped up first prize in the RNLl Grand Draw 2001 - a brand new Land Rover Freelander 1.8i with special sports body kit.

The draw, which raised over £150,000 in 2001, is a well established annual event and tickets are sold by fundraisers at events ail through the year.

Second prize, a Virgin holiday for two in Antigua, was won by Mrs Anne McPhail of Nairn, Scotland.

Mr William Turner from Devon won the third prize, a Mediterranean cruise for two, courtesy of Festival Cruises, and the fourth prize of a multi-media family PC was won by Mr W Gunter from Somerset.

Ten people also won joint fifth prizes of RNLl sailing fleeces.On the road CSMA Chairman John Harrington (right) presents cheque for over £66.000 to David Ttdman. RNLI transport manager The Civil Service Motoring Association (CSMA) and Frizzell Financial Services, a subsidiary of Liverpool Victoria, donated three transit vans worth over £66.000 to the lifeboat service during a presentation on 24 January.

The CSMA/Frizzelf charity fund has donated more than £400,000 to the RNLI over the last 18 years, the majority of which was raised through competitions in the CSMA magazine, Motoring and Leisure.

Frizzell contributes towards prizes and provides administration for opening the thousands of envelopes received.

The new vans will be used for delivering emergency supplies to lifeboat stations around the country. Peter Chennell, general manager supply, said 'These new vans will greatly enhance our ability to respond more effectively to the needs of our volunteer crews and their boats.'Regulars gathered at The Swan public house in Alderton, near Woodbridge, to see Don Everest let his hair down literally in support of the lifeboat service.

Don is an old seadog who joined the Royal Navy in 1948 and has been sporting his luxuriant head of hair and treasured beard for over 28 years. Challenged while he was enjoying his Sunday lunchtime tipple Don rose to the occasion. He set a target of £100 but the locals rallied round and started sponsorship lists. They raised £850 and gathered in the pub on New Year's Eve to see Maureen Mee of Bawdsey fearlessly wield the clippers while Martin Conroy, the chef at The Swan, proved his carving skills by removing the last vestiges of Don's moustache.

Luckily Don was anaesthetised by copious measures of whisky, his favourite tipple.

The Swan has raised over £1,200 for the lifeboats during the last yearenough to send three crew members on an introductory inshore lifeboat training course. In 1852. the year the Lifeboat was first issued, it would have paid for around 12 pulling and sailing lifeboats.Lifeboat-related reading Vintage Worthing - images of a lifeboat town 1914-1945 by Rob Blann Price £14.95 + £3.50 p&p ISBN: 09516277 3 2 A view of Worthing life in the first half of the 20th century and the final years of the town's lifeboat service. The book is illustrated with hundreds of photographs, many of which are previously unpublished.

Part of the proceeds from this book are donated to the lifeboat service. Please make cheques payable to Rob Blann and send orders to 39 Wallace Avenue, Worthing, West Sussex BN11 5QF.

The Liverpool lifeboat disaster of 1892 by Jim Sullivan Price: £8.60 including p&p ISBN: 1 902964 10 1 One man's search for a missing piece of history and to trace a member of his family, who had been lost in the 1892 Liverpool lifeboat tragedy.

Copies are available from Avid Publications, Garth Boulevard. Bebington, Wirral, Merseyside CH63 5LS.

Please make cheques payable to W Roberts.

The great lifeboat disaster of 1886 by J Allen Miller (new edition by Andrew Farthing) Price: £5.85 + 80p p&p ISBN: 1 874516 09 X Originally written to commemorate the centenary of the tragedy, this special edition includes a wealth of new photographs.

Copies are available from Sefton leisure services department (Finance CD), Pavilion Buildings, 99-105 Lord Street, Southport PR8 1RJ. Please make cheques payable to Sefton MBC.

Sorry On page 37 of the Winter 2001/02 issue of the Lifeboat we carried an article about the Great North Run which took place on 16 September. The accompanying picture was incorrectly captioned and should have read 'New Brighton lifeboat crew' not 'Brighton' as stated.Racing around Ramsey Nuns on mini-scooters, stilt-walkers and a horde of rampaging Vikings were just some of the colourful characters taking part in the 2001 Great Ramsey race which, raised over £2,000 for the lifeboat service.

The annual race, held in July, is a fun event in which teams, dressed in a variety of costumes and using unusual modes of transport, travel to Ramsey lifeboat station from all over the Isle of Man. Entrants raise sponsorship money and compete to win a number of awards including most original form of transport, best dressed team, most cash raised and furthest distance travelled - which is possibly a bit of a challenge on a small island.

The race is a popular feature of Ramsey lifeboat day and was devised to encourage younger people to support the lifeboats. The day complements the Celtic folk festival, which draws musicians and dancers from many countries, providing colour and music throughout the town. There are also a number of other activities on the day including a street parade, the launch of Ramsey lifeboat, competitions and hi-jinx around the harbour.

The proceeds from the event help to boost the Ramsey ladies lifeboat guild fundraising total, which topped £23,000 for the financial year 2000/01. Ramsey's thriving lifeboat shop, which moved to new premises in 2000, also achieved £33,000 turnover in its first year..