Over the last few years the lifeboat service has been in a strong financial position. It has been able to plan for the future and expand itslifesaving activities, thanks to the generosity and support of the public. However the continued weakness of the stock market, a downturn in legacies and a significant drop in membership suggests leaner times ahead. The Lifeboat looks at what plans are in place to maintain a secure futureThe lifeboat service is unique. It is a modern and efficient emergency service, yet it is a well established and respected charity. It is made all the more unusual by the fact that it is a charity with a finite financial need. It takes a certain amount of money to run the service and, with careful business planning, RNLI trustees know what that amount will be year on year.

In contrast, a third world development chanty, for example, has an endless need for funding as it is almost impossible to know how much money is needed to wipe out world famine and tackle other humanitarian disasters.

During the last few years lifeboat supporters have been so generous, especially with legacies, that the RNLI had enough money to run a state-of-the-art lifeboat service and, therefore, didn't need to be particularly assertive with its fundraising campaigns. It was open about its sound financial reserves and the public have always been kept informed. 'I think it is very important that we are honest with our supporters, which is why we fully adopted the Donor's Charter,' says Fundraising and Communications Director David Brann. 'So we've never asked our supporters to give us something that we didn't need.' This 'reactive' fundraising kept membership numbers fairly constant, until the last three years when that figure dropped by some 20,000. Now it seems that after many years of financial growth, times are changing.

The continued weakness of stock markets in the UK and overseas, especially since the events of 11 September, has led to an uncertain financial climate and has had a significant impact on the RNLI. The value of many charitable legacies is dependent on shares that are now worth less. As a result, the value of the RNLI's invested reserves - which fell by £36m in 2001 - was further reduced in 2002. 'For the first time in many years we need to dramatically increase our fundraising,' says David. 'Our reserves are at the lowest levels agreed by our trustees, which is a real concern.' Not only this, there is real concern among many UK charities about the possible downturn in legacies to the sector as a whole. In response to this, nearly 90 charities, including the RNLI, got together to form the Legacy Promotion Campaign (LPC). The LPC was launched in October 2001 and is working to encourage people to leave something in their will to their favourite causes. The campaign is being widely promoted under the headlines 'Good will' or 'Remember a charity'.David says: 'Our legacy income was f_78m in 2001, £68m in 2002 and we believe it is going to be £61 m in 2003. It's a massive drop but that's the sort of figure we have to try and make up through other kinds of fundraising.' Thanks to the RNLI's prudent reserves policy, which received criticism from some newspapers at the time, there has been no impact on lifesaving activity, but the trustees have agreed some precautionary measures to protect the RNLI's financial position should the stock market continue to decline. 'The main thrust will be to double our membership over the next five years,' says David.

'There will also be renewed vigour in our fundraising activity. We will be launching local appeals, planning some major ones, and we will be asking companies and grant making trusts to help us more. We believe that RNLI Beach Rescue and our lifeboats on the Thames provide excellent opportunities for corporate sponsorship, if we can find the right partner,' RNLI trustees have also agreed to smooth out capital expenditure to make it more 'digestible', which means new boat development programmes and the modernisation of she-reworks will continue, but at a slightly slower rate or build. The roll out of Beach Rescue will also be restrained until the situation improves. In addition there will be a renewed drive to ensure the RNLI is getting the best value in all its activities and staff have been set clear performance targets, which will help monitor effectiveness and efficiency. All of this will help to create a period of lower capital spending and, together with the public's help, will mean a stronger cash flow and a rise in free reserves.How you can help.

Thinking of a legacy? Legacies are vital to keep the lifeboats afloat. Around 68% of our income is reliant on legacies - six out of 10 lifeboats launches are only possible thanks to this funding. When you do make a will, please remember the RNLI. For further information visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk or call the RNLI's helpdesk on 01202 663234.

Helping the fundraisers Fundraising is a vital element of the activities that support the lifeboat service. By joining one of our 1,500 volunteer branches you will be able to meet like-minded people while having fun for a good cause. If you don't fancy joining a branch, why not organise your own fundraising event? For further information call the RNLI's helpdesk.

Join an event Fancy taking part in a fun, action-packed event? How about white water rafting, It's a Knockout or joining the RNLI team as a London marathon runner? These are just a few of the fantastic events we are involved in throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland. For further information contact Philippa Thompson on 01202 663441 or email [email protected] Help us through your company Support from companies can be very useful to the RNLI. Often, fundraising events can only get off the ground if the basic startup costs or prizes are funded by company sponsorship. However, it's not all one sided as companies can benefit from the profile and exposure created by supporting the lifeboats. For further information contact Jane Matthews on 01202663215,Join up Become a member or encourage your friends and family to join up. There are various levels of membership providing informative and exciting magazines, competitions and other member benefits.

Call the RNLI helpdesk for further information.

Buy RNLI gifts We have an extensive range of high quality gifts and souvenirs that are sold through our volunteers at fundraising events, lifeboat shops and our award winning Watermark gift.

catalogue, which is also available on the web. Phone 01202 663333 or visit www.rnlishop.org.uk/shop/.

Make a special gift Generous donations fund a significant proportion of lifeboats entering service each year and may give high-level donors the opportunity to name a lifeboat. Call the RNLI helpdesk for further information.'Remember a charity' is the biggest combined effort of its kind in the UK. For the first time ever, almost 90 UK charities joined forces to raise awareness about leaving money to charityWinning fundraising friends 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.

Here are just two examples of how this is working Pottery partners Totnes branch recently teamed up with local pottery, China Blue, to run a novel fundraising event with children in mind.

The week-long competition was for the best 'seaside ceramic' piece of pottery and children were able to choose, paint, fire and take home their work.

There was a good selection - a mermaid, lighthouse, starfish, boat and a model of Torbay's new Severn class lifeboat, produced specially by China Blue to commemorate the arrival of the first 'Severn in Devon'. The competition was in three age groups and prizes included Stormforce memberships and RNLI souvenirs, which were presented by Coxswain David Hurford of Torbay lifeboat. The star prize, a tour of the new lifeboat, was won by seven-year-old Cody Bond and her family.

The event, which is planned to be repeated, raised almost £700, which is enough to kit out a crew member in protective gear and buy a first aid kit backpack for an all-weather lifeboat.Eastbourne takes the milky way Eastbourne and district branch struck up a rather unusual fundraising friendship with local milk delivery man Peter Lushington. Peter, a franchise holder with Dairy Crest (Unigate). promised that during his next special customer promotion he will give 10% of the takings to Eastbourne branch and Diary Crest would contribute a further 10%.

Peter figured that when his customers saw the RNLI offer they would buy more generously, thus making up any loss in profit by the contribution to the lifeboat service.

Eastbourne branch are very enthusiastic about the scheme and can see great potential, not only locally, but throughout the whole of the national Dairy Crest distribution area. Perhaps other branches could milk this further?Lifeboat related readingLET NOT THE DEEP 1 in her stories • Let not the deep and other stories by Bill Hawkins Price: £5.95 A collection of yarns from the sea.

Available from all good bookshops.

Published by Serendipity (ISBN 1 84394 025 6).

The Main Cages by Philip Marsden Price: €12.99 A novel that centres on a Cornish fishing community and its lifeboat. Available from all good bookshops. Published by Flamingo (ISBN 000 7136390).Essentials of sea survival by Frank Golden MD, PHD and Michael Tipton PHD Price £18.95 The science and step-by-step actions for staying alive in open water.

Available from all good bookshops or direct from publishers, Human Kinetics, on 0113 255 5665 or online at www.humankinetics.com (ISBN 07360 0215 4) The story of the St Davids lifeboat by Dr George Middleton Price £3.00 (plus 50p p&p) Available from the author at 52 Bryn Road, St Davids, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA62 6QU. Please make cheques payable to 'St Davids ladies lifeboat guild.'Gracie, Mickie and Margaret - Kirkwall lifeboat reports 1966-2001 by Stephen M Manson Price: £9.99 Available online from www.orcadian.co.uk or the Orcadian bookshop on 01856 878000.

Encompassing Britain - painting at the points of the compass by Peter Collyer Price: £27.50 Peter Collyer captures the essence of Britain's coastlands in this series of miniature watercolours. Available from all good bookshops (ISBN 1 904050 02 6).supports the lifeboats Jeff Leyton, star of Les Miserables, sang for the lifeboats at Ulster Hall concert, Belfast, on 25 October. The musical evening was hosted by local band, Festival Brass, and saw Jeff performing hits from some well known and loved musicals. Singer Michelle Baird and Regent House senior choir, conducted by Colin McQueen, also took part in the event and compere for the evening was BBC's Linda Wray.

Promoter Alan Corn/ decided to donate the proceeds from the evening to the RNLI and said: This concert will help provide the most up-to-date equipment to save even more lives at sea.' Money is still coming in but the concert has already raised over £1,000 - enough to buy VHF radios for two Atlantic 75 lifeboats.

Anniversary race The 2001 Henley on Thames half marathon proved to be a great success in its 20th anniversary year, attracting over 700 entrants and raising over £5,000 for the lifeboats.

The annual event, organised by the Henley on Thames branch, was supported by national pub chain JD Wetherspoon, Henley Standard newspapers and the local rugby club.

The event is though to have raised close to £100,000 since its inception in 1983 - more than enough to fund an Atlantic 75 and a D class lifeboat.Recycling saves lives The RNLI is working with Accutecc (UK) Limited to help supporters be environmentally friendly by recycling their used printer and fax cartridges and raising funds for the lifeboats at the same time.

Accutecc is part of Kores Nordic (GB) Ltd, who are one of the major remanufacturers of printer cartridges in Europe. The company specialise in recycling printer and fax cartridges and can accept a wide range of products including Canon, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Lexmark and Tektronix.

The scheme is simple and works well for individuals and companies. Just collect 10 or more cartridges and contact Accutecc by telephone 01279 401404 or fax 01279 435397/437638 quoting RNLI and giving your full address and number of boxes to be collected. They will then arrange collection free of charge. Collections will be made within 2-3 working days. The value of the cartridges will then be paid direct to the RNLI.

If you have a computer at home and only use the occasional cartridge, you can still recycle them for the RNLI. Just telephone Tizzy Perkins at the RNLI on 01202 663295 or write to her at Corporate Relations, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, BH15 1 HZ for more information.

The RNLI hopes to raise £25,000 during 2003 by recycling cartridges - so please give it your support.Busy at Newbiggin Despite the occasional poor weather, fundraisers at Newbiggin can be very proud of their efforts during summer 2002. A full programme of events was well supported, finishing up with a town pageant which saw many crew and branch members dressing up in period costume and having to learn lines.

The open day on 7 July allowed the public to take a closer look at the station and see the lifeboat launch. The ladies guild decked out the boathouse with tables and chairs and did a roaring trade serving refreshments and selling souvenirs from the lifeboat shop.

Newbiggin lifeboat day saw hundreds of visitors lending their support and over £3,000 was raised. Children and adults alike enjoyed a line-up of stalls, games, fairground rides and were able to watch displays and exercises thanks to Newbiggin and Blyth lifeboats and a Sea King helicopter from RAF Boulmer.

The ladies guild also took full advantage of the town fair and served refreshments in the boathouse, raising almost £1,000.

The final summer event for Newbiggin was the St Bartholomews Fair and a pageant saw a re-enactment of the royal proclamation for a fair at Newbiggin by King John. The show was enjoyed by hundreds of spectators and the ladies guild was in action once again and had a successful afternoon of fundraising.Family show their thanks Castletownbere lifeboat station recently received an enormous boost to its fundraising efforts when the family of a man lost at sea presented a cheque for €8.000 (£5,090).

Mr Aidan Ross, of Rossmore, Clonakilty, was fishing off rocks in October 2001 when he tragically lost his life. Castletownbere lifeboat recovered Mr Ross, and his family organised a number of fundraising ventures as a token of their gratitude.

The main fundraiser was the launch of a CD entitled Our heroes, to coincide with last summer's world cup. Aidan's brother-in-law Charlie McCarthy and friends played gigs in a number of venues throughout West Cork and sold many copies of the CD.

In making the presentation to the lifeboat station, Charlie said: The cheque is but a small token of thanks to the lifeboat.' He also complimented the coxswain and crew on their work and said that the family would never forget them.

The money raised is enough to buy a state-of-the-art electronic chart system for an all-weather lifeboat.A big drop for the lifeboats He hates heights, but he loves the water - just two reasons why Alan Malcolm chose to abseil down a 60m crane to raise money for the lifeboats. Alan, from Glasgow, is a vertigo sufferer but has been a keen sailor for a number of years - therefore the RNLI is a cause very close to his heart.

Alan was among 15 fundraisers who abseiled down one of Glasgow's most striking industrial landmarks, the Finnieston Crane, on the banks of the River Clyde.

Most people have heard about abseiling down the face of buildings, but descending in mid air from the top of a crane can be particularly daunting. 'It was pretty nerve-wracking,' said Alan. 'It seemed to take a lifetime to get down, but it probably took about two minutes.' Following his successful descent, the RNLI is now £2,230 better off and Alan has a certificate to prove it wasn't just a bad dream. He is keen to take part in another event for the RNLI, but he doubts it will involve abseiling: 'Perhaps parachuting would be more of a challenge'.

Alan's brave efforts raised enough money to send four crew members on an inshore lifeboat introductory training course.Use Gift Aid and you can make your donation worth more - without costing you a penny. As a charity, the RNLI can reclaim the tax on any donation you make, provided you are a UK taxpayer, and increase its value by a third.

For every pound you give, we get an extra 28p from the Inland Revenue. So.

£100 can be turned into £128 just as long as your donations are made through Gift Aid.

The RNLI receives over Clm from the Inland Revenue via Gift Aid, making an important contribution to saving more lives at sea.

If you already have a Deed of Covenant, Gift Aid will replace this and enable us to claim on any future donations.

If you would like to start giving through Gift Aid, please complete the form on the label carrier of this issue.Tesco triumph Branch and guild members from all over the country diligently rattled collection boxes outside their local Tesco stores in June as part of a national drive to collect cash for the lifeboats. The event proved to be a resounding success, raising a staggering £278,000.

Thanks must go to all those who collected on the day - your sterling efforts speak for themselves.C°-°P collections Staff from CO-OD stores also in in i*» Co-op raised cash for the lifeboats during the summer. Raffles, tombolas and collections were held in five stores and staff turned up in seaside fancy dress. Co-op's headquarters kicked off the event with a £500 donation and a total of £1,260 was raised..