Dispatches ’Twas the season … Thousands of RNLI volunteers around the UK and Republic of Ireland were on call over the recent holiday period. It’s too early for 2006 statistics, but from Christmas Eve 2005 to 2 January 2006 volunteer lifeboat crews were called into action 95 times. Over the last 10 years, lifeboats have launched 880 times in these eight days, rescuing nearly 500 people – 78 of them on Christmas Day itself. One Christmas lifeboating volunteer was Mark Smith.

From Brighton at 2.13pm on Christmas Day, Mark and fellow Crew Members Conrad Levy and Santosh Burrett launched to a man fallen into the water from a powerboat. They found him, pulled him aboard and, discovering he was severely hypothermic, worked with a Coastguard helicopter crew to airlift him to hospital. Mark says: ‘It called on a variety of training, including navigation, recovering a casualty, first aid and winching. Luckily for me, when I got back home, Christmas dinner was just being served!’ But it’s not just lifeboat crews whose thoughts remain with the RNLI at this time of year. Many RNLI shops that normally open only in summer are given a fresh lease of life by the retail volunteers selling Christmas cards and gifts. And then there are the ‘keen’ people who want to blow away the cobwebs and fundraise in a rather more eccentric way … VAT triumph Tuesday, 1 August 2006 was a good day for the RNLI.

It was then that HM Treasury approved the ‘Value Added Tax (Lifeboats) Order 2006’, whereby fuel provided to all lifeboats is now VAT free.

The charity has not had to pay VAT on marine diesel for all-weather lifeboats for several years, but this was not true for inshore lifeboats. Thanks to the combined efforts of Heide Stevens and Darren Spivey of the RNLI’s Finance department, and Peter Jenkins from tax consultants Ernst & Young, Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 1750 finally zero-rated the ‘supply of fuel to a charity providing rescue or assistance at sea where the fuel is for use in a lifeboat’.

The practical effect is to save the RNLI around £30,000 every year at current rates. However, with VAT still being charged in areas such as boathouse maintenance, crew training, any equipment that is not related to the lifeboat itself, and fundraising and support costs, irrecoverable VAT still costs the RNLI around £2.2M a year.

The RNLI, along with the Charity Tax Reform Group, is lobbying the Government to remove this burden and thus allow the RNLI to spend the money donated for its intended purpose of saving lives at sea. If you wish to help with this campaign, please contact Darren Spivey on 01202 663061, or email him at [email protected] for advice. A heart-felt welcome Each lifeboat has its unique funding story.

The Two Annes was the first Atlantic 85 on station in England but also a magnificent gift from a magnificent lady.

Anne Bache had always had a passion for the water and the RNLI, even though she was from the landlocked Midlands. Her wish to donate came after she attended the naming ceremony of the Burry Port D class The Young Watsons in September 2003, funded by her brother Bill and sister-in-law Ann and named after their grandchildren.

Miss Anne Bache decided on ‘her’ boat name after Mrs Ann Bache missed The Young Watsons naming ceremony. As Ann says: ‘This was typical of her; she was very generous.’ In 2004, Miss Bache became seriously ill with cancer and became concerned she would miss the naming of The Two Annes.

But in August 2006, she made the trip to Teignmouth and, despite her illness, her lively spirit came to the fore in a day of real celebrations.

Anne died six weeks later: crew members from Teignmouth formed a guard of honour at her funeral. But her legacy will carry on.

The Two Annes is already saving lives and Miss Bache left provision for maintenance and refits for several years to come. The Atlantic 85 is the next, larger, generation of B class inshore lifeboat and the latest addition to the fleet. Examples can now be found at 10 lifeboat stations (see Listings for details).

The new £125,000 design provides: • a top speed of 35 knots (not achievable by adapting an Atlantic 75) • a fourth seat (40% of Atlantic 21 and 75 services currently take four crew members despite only having three seats) • radar (essential at some stations but cost effective to have on all) • VHF radio direction finding or DF (standard on all-weather lifeboats).

The hull is made from a carbon fibre and foam core laminate, minimising the internal structure but maintaining overall stiffness.

A manually operated righting system combined with two 115hp 4-stroke inversion-proofed engines allow her to remain operational even after capsize.

If you would like to find out what specific RNLI projects are available for funding, whether large or small, please contact Sarah Sleigh, Personal Donations Manager, on 01202 663115 or [email protected]. Kinghorn mermaids Being a mum, swimming and breaking records seems to be something ‘one does’ at Kinghorn in Fife.

Andrea Gellan, a mother-of-three, broke a world record in 2004 by swimming, in relay, the English Channel three times, all in aid of Kinghorn lifeboat station. More recently, in July 2006, Judith Frame, also a mother-ofthree, created her own shorter but colder record by swimming the two miles from Inchkeith Island to Kinghorn.

Judith took on the challenge with the station’s Open Day in mind. Months of training in freezing waters were fitted around looking after the children, working at The Ship Tavern, and answering the call to take to the tractor and launch the lifeboat.

One hour and 46 minutes after she walked into the cold waters of the Firth of Forth, Judith arrived on the beach at Kinghorn to a wonderfully warm welcome (pictured).

Medical cover for the swim was provided by paramedics, alongside the safety boat, in gratitude for the joint training the lifeboat crew had held with the Ambulance service over the previous weeks.

By completing her challenge, Judith not only created the first officially timed swim from the Island but also raised more than £1,700 for the RNLI in the process. Not a mumble but a shout Just five miles from Swansea, a huddle of small houses clings on beneath the cliff, set within a great sweep of the bay. This is The Mumbles, or Y Mwmbwls in Welsh, possibly so named because of the visual similarity to breasts of two islets off the promontory.

Shipbuilding was established at Swansea as early as the 14th century and the copper trade dominated in the 19th. By then The Mumbles was home to some 715 people who spoke with a distinct south-Gower dialect and made their living largely from oyster dredging, fishing, limestone quarrying and farming.

But the increasing numbers of vessels entering Swansea harbour needed to navigate the Mixon Sands, south west of Mumbles Head, and Scarweather Sands to the south of the bay – and many would succumb. In 1834, the local newspaper, The Cambrian, urged the ‘influential gentlemen connected with our harbour, [to consider] the necessity of procuring [a lifeboat], for the protection of the poor mariner when threatened by the danger of shipwreck and loss of life’.

A year later, the first lifeboat was on station and in 1863 the RNLI took it on. The pulling and sailing Martha and Anne was named after the daughters of Michael Steel of Oxford whose legacy paid for her. In 1866 the lifeboat station moved to The Mumbles and here the Wolverhampton was presented to the RNLI by the people of that town. Her stone slipway still exists today.

The crews often faced long, desperate struggles to reach a shipwreck, sometimes to no avail. The worst disaster in the history of The Mumbles lifeboat occurred on 23 April 1947, when all eight crew of the lifeboat Edward, Prince of Wales were lost attempting to rescue the 39 crew of the steamship Samtampa. A beautiful stained-glass window at All Saints Church in Oystermouth portrays the scene. Designed by Tim Lewis it shows the capsized lifeboat, the crew members surrounding it and two segments of the Samtampa, the whole scene set in a swirling sea of blue and white glass (pictured). At the bottom can be seen the lifeboat house, a village street in The Mumbles and The Mumbles lighthouse. Fittingly, the 60th anniversary commemorative service will take place on 23 April 2007 at All Saints.

Links with this history are still evident at The Mumbles today: for example the current Chair of the local ladies’ lifeboat guild, Maureen Donald, lost her father in the tragedy. Under her guidance the guild continues its 70-year tradition of coffee mornings, tea afternoons, sunny and rainy day gift selling and many more essential fundraising activities.

The crew association has organised the now famous Mumbles raft race for 22 years.

They consistently raise record levels of money and 2006 was no exception.With over 50 rafts taking part, and all participants in fancy dress, there were prizes for the bestdressed raft, the first rafts home, and the most sponsorship gained. A magnificent £21,400 was raised in total. And it seems that racing rafts is not the only way the crew use paddling to raise money. Crew Member Rob Tovey is also part of the RNLI’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU), whose volunteers are ready to travel anywhere in the world to assist in floodrelief work (see the Lifeboat Spring 2005). Rob, with Alwyn Dunn from Flint, Paul Filby from Criccieth and Richard Bowles from Little and Broad Haven lifeboat stations, recently completed a 50 mile kayak along the River Dee to raise in excess of £1,000 for the RRU during their four-day challenge. On a more sombre note, Steve Wood recently camped at The Mumbles lighthouse for a week in memory of his son, Lee. The lighthouse was the last place where father and son fished together before Lee died in a boating accident off the Gower in 2004. Steve turned round his heartbreaking experience to raise over £2,700 from his camping challenge to be split between Tenby, Horton and Port Eynon, and Burry Port lifeboat stations, all involved in the search for Lee. Steve said: ‘Every penny raised will go towards supporting RNLI volunteers who do such a magnificent job.' At The Mumbles, that magnificent job is carried out by two full-timers at the station – the Coxswain and Mechanic – and by 25 volunteer crew members (four of whom are probationers) who fit the training and call outs in amongst their ‘day’ jobs. They range from fire fighters, teachers, landlords and communications experts to university students. Under the leadership of Coxswain Martin Double, the station’s crew has the distinction of being the first to achieve full competence under the updated competence based training programme.

There are also six shore helpers and seven honorary positions including the operations manager, launching authorities, medical advisers, press officer and boathouse attendant.

There’s even a dog that accompanies one of the crew members on the dash to the station.

Graham Wright’s miniature dachshund, Ollie, believes he is a parrot and rides around on Graham's shoulder.When there is a shout, Ollie clings on as his master cycles to the station, and Photo: David Corben then waits to be taken home by one of the support crew! Lifeboats have launched over 1,700 times in The Mumbles’ history, saving the lives of nearly 800 people, and 19 RNLI Medals for Gallantry have been awarded – 5 Bronze, 13 Silver and 1 Gold.

The workhorses of the station have changed much over the years. The pulling and sailing lifeboat has been replaced many times over and today’s all-weather lifeboat is the Tyne class Babs and Agnes Robertson, formerly of Peterhead. The Mumbles is also an inshore lifeboat station and the current D class, Peterborough Beer Festival 2, was placed on service in 2004.

Although the oyster dredgers, brigantines and barques of olden days have been replaced by the yachts, fishing vessels and motor boats of today, and the dialect has all but disappeared, there are still reminders of the past eras. On 2 August 2006 today’s lifeboat crew, along with Porthcawl’s and Barry Dock’s lifeboats, were tasked to a 300-year-old pilot cutter taking on water on the Scarweather Sandbank.

This New Year will see the station undergo a coast review to assess the pattern of lifeboat cover in the area and decide upon the station’s future search and rescue provision to take it through the next phase of its life. Whatever decisions are made,The Mumbles lifeboat station has a pronounced community and voluntary atmosphere that makes it truly a part of the RNLI. Local loyalty Visiting surfers and local pubgoers alike are commited to supporting the RNLI volunteers at Brighton, East Sussex.

Drinkers at The Spanish Lady pub in Saltdean have consistently raised money for the RNLI since 1986. Joining forces with the Saltdean Traders Association in many a madcap enterprise and stunt, they have handed over £12,800 in just the last six years.

Further down the road, The White Horse in Rottingdean supports Brighton’s volunteers with ‘the most expensive lemon in the country’ bringing in more than £2,200 so far. [It’s a coin-balancing game … Ed.] A dive club has based itself at the inn and been caught up in the fundraising too, donating nearly £1,000.

Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Brighton each year for the sun, sea and surf and some found themselves in the midst of an inspired event in the Summer of 2006: ‘Paddle round the Pier’ (pictured). The organisers say that, having ‘only’ raised £11,000 this time (shared between the RNLI, Brighton Children’s Hospital and Surfaid International) the 2007 ‘Paddle’ will double in size and become a two-day festival. See paddleroundthepier.com for more information. Anything but retiring Few lifeboating volunteers who’ve reached retirement are ready to step away from station life.

Dick Robinson has ‘been involved with, or hanging around, lifeboats since 1946’, firstly at Valentia Island and more recently at Kilrush, Co. Clare.

Dick is now involved with fundraising activities including, for the last 11 years, the Burren Ramble across this uniquely beautiful limestone karst.

The 2006 Ennis and Lahinch branches’ Ramble had 500 participants who raised a magnificent €15,000.

Fred Walkington MBE, former Bridlington Coxswain, is equally busy.

He is now the Foreshores Manager for the East Riding of Yorkshire and the author of The Bridlington lifeboat; the first 200 years 1805–2005. The book has so far raised £6,000 for the RNLI and Fred recently presented a copy to Drayton Park Primary School, London, N5. Surprisingly, pupils there have a day-to-day reminder of the lifeboat service literally on both their doorstep and uniform.

Drayton Park is known throughout London as ‘the school with the boat’ as, since Yorkshire Day 1991, it has had one of Fred’s old lifeboats in its grounds. Staff and pupils raised the thousands of pounds needed to transport the Oakley class William Henry and Mary King to Islington and set her up for all to see.

She carried out 290 services, saving 83 lives at sea off Bridlington. Now she raises awareness of the RNLI, not only amongst the hundreds of children who know and love her and play on her every day but also the thousands of Arsenal fans who walk to their new football stadium just 200m away. Share the gift Are you the owner of some unwanted shares? Perhaps they could cost you as much to sell as they are worth, or perhaps you are looking for a tax effective way of giving? The solution may be to donate your shares to the RNLI.

If you have shares worth more than £100, you can donate them to the RNLI, and stockbrokers Charles Stanley will do the hard work for you. Antony Bindon-Howell from Charles Stanley comments:‘When people donate shares, they expect the best possible benefit to be received by the RNLI. Charles Stanley Stockbrokers ensure a cost-effective service to support this vital work and we are pleased and proud to provide stockbroking services to the RNLI on behalf of these generous benefactors.’ The most efficient way to donate a smaller quantity of shares is to send them to ShareGift rather than to the RNLI. This saves the disproportionately high administration costs involved in transferring and selling small holdings of shares by pooling them and distributing the proceeds.

To find out more, contact Rhys Parker at RNLI Headquarters on 01202 663285 or look at rnli.org.uk/sharegiving and www.sharegift.org.

As with all things financial, you should seek independent advice. Walkies! The Lifeboat occasionally reports on the rescue of an animal, with or without their human friend, by lifeboat crew and lifeguards but every once in a while our four-footed friends do a good deed in return.

Taking their mutt for a walk is something that hopefully all dog owners enjoy but sometimes they take this to extremes.

Jannina Henderson set off in January 2006 on a mammoth trek around the coast of mainland Britain with her two Collie cross dogs,Tressa and Jago. She was raising money for four charities – the RNLI, Woodland Trust,World Society for the Protection of Animals and Topsy Foundation. Jannina completed her 5,000-mile circuit on 25 November and was greeted by Lyme Regis lifeboat volunteers.

At the time of going to print, money was still coming in towards her £100,000 target.

Those who like dogs but don’t have their own can sometimes ‘borrow’ one.

At the Spittal of Glenshee in Perthshire you don’t even have to know the owner particularly well. At this Highland retreat, Springer Spaniel ‘rent-a-dogs’ Ben and Sam, and until recently Old Mac (pictured), are available to escort you on walks. Their charges are very reasonable – just a few pence to their favourite charity, the RNLI, but amounting to £6,000-plus over the last eight years. It certainly makes you ‘paws’ for thought! Ninety-five not out Betty Grant celebrated her Golden Wedding anniversary by raising money for Queensferry lifeboat station – but that was over 20 years ago.

More recently, she was planning her 95th birthday party and decided that, instead of presents, guests would be invited to donate money, again to her local lifeboat station. The result was over £900 for the RNLI, proving that, when it comes to fundraising, age certainly does matter. Here’s to your century,Mrs Grant! .