The Clacton lifeboat appeal received an early Christmas present when it was presented with a cheque for £800 form Katherine Beck.

Katherine,  who works at the Woolwich in Clacton, organised a pool competition at the Clacton Snooker Centre in Valley Road where about twenty players competed in two pools, the winner of each  playing-off in the final. The tournament was won by Alex Davies who received a trophy donated by the R.N.L.I.

Katherine also held a raffle during the competition with prizes donated by local businesses . The event raised £400.

The Woolwich is part of the Barclays Group which operates a £4£ matched funding scheme as part of its Community Programme. This year 6,600 members of staff who raised funds had their efforts doubled through the scheme, giving almost £9million to thousands of charities.

Many Thanks to everyone who made this such a success.

The photo shows Katherine with members of the crew, and Santa who was paying his annual visit.

Santa changed his sleigh for a ride in the lifeboat when he made his annual visit to the Clacton lifeboat station. About forty youngsters came to meet him in the inshore boathouse on the Western Promenade to tell him what they would like for Christmas. After meeting the children, Santa joined members of the crew at their Christmas lunch.

The annual dinner of the Clacton branch of the R.N.L.I. took place at the Esplanade Hotel on Friday 22nd October. Nearly forty guests enjoyed the tasty and well presented meal in the restaurant, and sat back to listen to David Porter talking about his life as a pharmacist. Using items from his collection of chemist shop and doctors surgery memorabilia, David based his reflections around Bayleys chemist shop which used to be in Pier Avenue. From Mr Bayley’s setting up of the shop, through the war years to the take-over by Kingswoods the talk was illustrated with items from each period, some of which were used in a way which would make your eyes water. Thank goodness we had eaten first!

The photo shows David Porter with some of his collection

Tom Gunning a member of the Long Distance Swimming Association and an endurance award winner spent a day in September swimming the length of Lake Windermere. It took Tom eight and a quarter hours to cover the ten and a half miles. Sponsorship was raised with the help of Gary and Russell Grainge of the Beach Diner at Martello Bay, Dave and Ann Botterell of the Clacton Angling Shop, and the over fifties club. At a presentation held at the Beach Diner, Tom handed a cheque for £513.46 to the Clacton Lifeboat Appeal.

The photo shows Russell and Gary Grainge, Wendy Lockyear ( Active for Life) Dave Botterell, Tom, and Ann Botterell.

Members of the 1st Bottisham Beavers from Cambridge paid a visit to the Clacton lifeboat station to hand over a cheque from Ed Rank to the Clacton lifeboat appeal.

Ed is a long-time supporter of the scout movement and a keen fund raiser, always getting the beavers to present a donation on his behalf.

The Beavers met members of the crew and were shown over the lifeboat and watched it launch on exercise.

Ed’s kind donation of £500 takes the appeal up to the £13.000 mark.

The photo shows the Beavers with senior helmsman Tim Dye.

Colbayns School in Clacton-on-Sea has been raising money for the local lifeboat. They held a “no uniform” day where pupils could make a donation and come to school in casual clothes. £600.00 was presented to the lifeboat station to help with the day-to-day running costs of the boat. Four students representing the school came along to the pier boathouse to have a look round and meet some of the crew. Many thanks to everyone who took part.

The photo shows the students (l - r) Jamie Lyons, Denver Williams, Emily Boyden and Zoe Jarrett with Senior Helmsman Tim Dye

Seven members of the Burnham-on-Crouch lifeboat crew took to their bikes to take on the challenge of visiting all sixteen lifeboat stations in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. They started on Monday from Hunstanton and followed the coast reaching Clacton on Thursday. They were entertained in the boathouse by the Clacton crew and later shown some of the local nightlife. They are raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the R.N.L.I. One of their station’s founder members Tony Glaze was diagnosed with MN last year and the station wanted to show their support. Tony was one of the original crew when the station opened in 1966 and went on to become Honorary Secretary. It was hoped that £5,000 would be raised but that is now looking to be nearer £10,000. The ride ends on Saturday when the team reach Southend.

The photo shows the Burnham crew in the Clacton boathouse.

The Clacton branch of the Edinburgh Woollen Mills held a fashion show to raise funds for the Clacton lifeboat appeal. Area manager Chris Dye suggested the lifeboat as a local charity to support as people can see where the money is spent. More than thirty quests attended the show on Tuesday evening, and watched the six models showing-off the clothes. An enjoyable time was had by all and £200 was added to the appeal fund.

Many thanks to the local scout group for the loan of the chairs, and to all the staff at the shop.

The photo shows members of staff and the volunteer models

Clacton-on-sea R.N.L.I. lifeboat has a new senior helmsman. Rob Bradbrook reached the retirement age of forty-five for inshore crew and has handed the reins to Tim Dye. Forty crew members past and present gave Rob a farewell dinner at Mafias. restaurant in Holland-on-Sea on Saturday 4th September where he was presented with a brass clock and barometer. He had been with the lifeboat for nearly thirty years, starting as a shore helper before joining the crew. Tim joined in the mid 1990’s and is a well-known local sailor having raced dinghies since he was a teenager. Everyone at the station looks forward to working with him, and wish him a safe and happy time in the job.

The picture shows Rob (right) and Tim outside the pier boathouse

Mr Smith said that Mr Bradbrook had been involved in many high profile incidents over the years and had helped rescue many lives.

Tim Sutton a helmsman and mechanic on the station, has served with Mr Bradbrook for ten years.

"There isn't one crew member down here that Rob hasn't trained" he said. "Everything we know is down to him."

Mr Bradbrook was born and brought up in Clacton  where he still lives and picked up an RNLI long service award in 2002.

He will be sent off in style with a meal and presentation from his own crew and past members next month.

Tim Dye takes over as the new helmsman.

 

The photo shows Shane and members of staff with Peter Watson

At the recent annual general meeting of the Clacton-on-Sea branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution a long service award was made to Stan Woolley for his ten years as a helper in the souvenir shop.

He was presented with a framed certificate of thanks from the Institution by Roger Wood who managed the shop for nineteen years before retiring earlier this year.

The photo shows Stan, (left) receiving his award from Roger.

Lifeboat Station manager Rob Smith gives an interview to Paul Joslin from BBC Essex about the station and crew. It is hoped it will be broadcast as part of the radio stations "Help line" on 2nd July.

Clacton Hospitals District Nursing Team wished themselves a Merry Christmas in a different way this year. Staff Nurse Stewart Keen suggested that instead of sending each-other Christmas cards they should make a contribution to the Lifeboat. Like many simple ideas it proved successful and raised nearly £40.

The picture shows Stewart presenting the collecting box to Station Press Officer  Mel Winger.

Press Officer Mel Winger 07/01/2004