The residents of Holly Court in Old Road, Clacton, held a table top sale in aid of the RNLI and raised an impressive £150. Crew member Tim Sutton went along to meet some of the ladies and have a chat about the service provided by the local lifeboats.

Press Officer Mel Winger 18/12/2006

Father Christmas made his annual visit to the Clacton lifeboat station on Sunday 4 December 2006. Braving the strong winds, rain and the rough sea he arrived by lifeboat on the Martello Bay beach to be greeted by a crowd of about two hundred people. More than one hundred children went to see him in his grotto in the new lifeboat house each receiving a small gift. As the weather improved many more people came and watched the crew on their regular Sunday morning exercise. The gift shop was very busy with many visitors having their first look at the new boathouse.

The photo shows Santa arriving in the lifeboat as it is recovered in its launching cradle.

( Photo by Mike Vaughan-Chatfield )

Press Officer Mel Winger 04/12/2006

Long distance swimmer Tom Gunning paid a visit to the new Clacton lifeboat station to present a cheque for £500 to the RNLI. Tom was one of a group of swimmers who attempted to swim the English channel in August. The conditions were not very favourable right from the start and slowly deteriorated. After just a few hours only Tom and one other competitor were left battling against a rising sea and a changing tide. With seven and a half hours on the clock and fifteen miles covered, mostly sideways, the safety officer in the support boat abandoned the attempt. By now the sea was quite rough and some of the support team were feeling a bit queezy  and were glad to head back to land. Toms effort raised £2500 for various charities and he has asked me to thank the following people for their sponsorship, Billy Peak of Magic City, Annette of the Nationwide Building Society, Lee Nash of the Martello Inn and the Clacton Rotary Club.

The photo shows Tom with members of the RNLI fundraising team at Clacton.

Press Officer Mel Winger 28/11/2006

The RNLI has recently introduced a programme of restructuring the Committees of all its Lifeboat Stations, bring about a standardisation and ensuring the workload of a modern station is evenly spread across a wide skill-base. Previously each station "did its own thing" and this could range from a one man band to a cast of thousands. When Divisional Inspector Martyn Smith visited Clacton to explain the new structure he complimented the station by saying that some of the new ideas came from our existing operation, and because of that it would not be such a major change. The station is now served by a lifeboat management group.

 The LMG structure is detailed below.

Father Christmas to visit new lifeboat house

The annual visit by Father Christmas to the Clacton lifeboat will be in the new boathouse in Hastings Avenue for the first time this year. He will arrive by boat on Sunday 3^rd of December at 11am on the Martello Bay beach and will meet the children in his grotto in the new boathouse. Visitors will be able to see the new building and the lifeboats and meet members of the crew. Refreshments will be available and the gift shop will be open for Christmas cards, calendars, diaries and a wide selection of gifts.

Press Officer Mel Winger 17/11/2006

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution received a boost when a cheque for £415 was presented by Tim Skinner. Tim held a fundraising day and donated 50p for every customer who used Skinners fish and chip shop and the Copper Kettle restaurant in Ravensdale, Great Clacton, on a day back in August. Tim holds a lifeboat day every year and this was his biggest total, helped by a donation from his fish suppliers FAS of Ipswich. Thanks to Tim and his staff for their efforts again this year.

The photo shows Tim and shop assistant Ida Hewitt with Peter Watson of the Clacton lifeboat fund raising team.

  Press Officer Mel Winger 16/11/2006

Coffee Morning

The Clacton Lifeboat Ladies are holding a coffee morning in aid of the Clacton-on-Sea RNLI lifeboats on Saturday 28 October 2006. It takes place at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Frinton Road, Holland-on-Sea from 10am until midday. Admission is 50p which includes coffee. The souvenir stall will be there with Christmas cards and gifts, and a cake stall and raffle.

Press Officer Mel Winger 16/10/2006

Mrs Jean Clarke from Clacton is celebrating winning a 10-day Italy and Mediterranean cruise after scooping the second prize of the RNLI’s Summer Lottery.

 

Mrs Clarke was treated to a VIP tour of Clacton RNLI lifeboat station in Essex yesterday - Wednesday 2 August 2006. She met some of the RNLI volunteer crew and had a guided tour of the boathouse. She is looking forward to setting off on her cruise on the “Ocean Majesty” with her husband in October.

 

Mrs Clarke said:

 

'I was really surprised and pleased when I found out I had won a cruise. So often when you receive notification that you’ve won something it often turns out to be not the case.

 

‘I have supported the RNLI for the last two years. It all started when I was sent a gift catalogue. Moving to the coast also recently brought it home to me how important it is to support lifeboat crews and what a good job they do.’

 

Sarah Brooks, Head of Business Development, Page & Moy, said:

 

'Page & Moy is delighted to support the RNLI’s valuable work. Since 1999 we have raised over £52,000 to help provide much needed training and equipment to this worthy cause.

‘Page & Moy will continue to work with the RNLI to raise even more money on projects such as the lottery and through donations made by our customers on board our cruise ship. We look forward to welcoming Mr & Mrs Clarke onboard the Ocean Majesty and wish them a very pleasant voyage'.

 

This year's summer lottery proved very popular. RNLI supporters raised £935,000 to save lives at sea. There are four RNLI lotteries per year and last year the lottery raised £2.5m for the charity.  

 

The RNLI’s Fundraising and Communications Director, David Brann, said:

 

‘The Lifeboat Lottery is a great source of funds. It’s raised millions of pounds since it was launched in 1977 and this enables us to provide our volunteer lifeboat crews with the best possible boats, equipment and training. The RNLI relies on donations to raise the £120.2m we need each year and so supporters like Mrs Clarke are invaluable. I send her my congratulations on her win, and thank her for her continued support of the RNLI.’

Flag-day

The RNLI would like to thank everyone who contributed to the street collection held in Clacton on 17^th June. The total collected was £828.51.

The ladies of the branch also held a coffee morning on 1^st July raising £276.50. Many thanks to all the ladies for their efforts.

The Clacton Rotaract Club has been busy raising money for equipment for the new lifeboat house currently under construction in Hastings Avenue. Members of the club were joined by some of the lifeboat crew to see Adrian Simcock present a cheque for £1300.00 to RNLI branch chairman David Porter, under the watchful eye of Rotaract president Cathryn Darby. Adrian was one of the busiest fund raisers helping to organize such things as a car wash, a charity bag pack at Morrisons supermarket, fun stalls at Clacton shopping village, a sponsored house at the Gala bingo and a float in the carnival parade. David thanked the Rotaract members for their hard work not only on behalf of the lifeboat but the many other organizations they support.

Sue Harris from Lawford proved that you don’t need to go far to raise money for the RNLI. She walked the marathon distance of 26.2 miles on a treadmill at the Activia Health and Fitness Centre at Colchester Leisure World. It took Sue 6 hours 18 minutes to cover the distance raising £200. On a visit to the Clacton lifeboat she met members of the crew and was given a tour of the boathouse. Sue would like to thank everyone who sponsored her and gave her such support and encouragement during her effort. The money will go towards equipment for the new lifeboat-house.

Annual General Meeting

The 128^th Annual General Meeting of the Clacton-on-Sea branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was held at the Kingscliff  Hotel, Holland-on-Sea on Tuesday 30^th May.

The previous twelve months had been a very busy period with building work starting on the new boathouse in Hastings Avenue and fund-raising for the new lifeboat reaching its target. The lifeboats were being called into action an average of once a week, and crew training was continuing as new members joined.

The appeal for the new lifeboat was closed in December 2005 having reached £128,000 ( the target was £125,000 ). The new boathouse is under construction and is on schedule to be completed in the autumn.

Thanks were given to the souvenir shop staff and the boathouse attendants for their efforts, looking after the members of the public and organized groups who made visits to the station throughout the year.

We now have over 100 collection boxes around the area in many varied locations, and unfortunately six were stolen this year. The branch expressed its appreciation to everyone who helps to raise money in this way.

The branch committee were re-elected en bloc.

The Chairman-David Porter, and the Operations Manager-Rob Smith, joined in thanking the branch members for their efforts during the year. They also thanked the many organizations, businesses and individuals who continue to support the RNLI and help to keep the boats afloat.

The Chairman also noted that the branch members and volunteers were getting “long in the tooth, and thin on the ground” and some younger blood was needed. To this end it was decided to start a recruiting drive to attract new members to the branch and crew.

 A Garden Centre Evening held on Saturday 13 May at Craft Nursery, Lawford, raised a total of £530.50 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. There was a fine display of hanging baskets and bedding plants along with shrubs and trees with staff on hand to answer any questions. Highlight of the evening was a flower arranging demonstration by Patsy Potter of Brightlingsea who kept everyone amused with her witty stories and floral skills. Many thanks to all those who made this such a successful event.

Annual General Meeting 

The Annual General Meeting of the Clacton-on-Sea branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution will take place at the Kingscliff Hotel, Holland-on-Sea, on Tuesday May 30^th at 8pm.

Garden Centre Evening

The Clacton branch of the RNLI is holding a garden centre evening at Craft Nursery, Harwich Road, Lawford on Saturday May 13 from 6pm. There will be hanging basket demonstrations, sweet pea displays and a raffle as well as a visit from Patsy Potter of Brightlingsea who will be giving a flower arranging class. Tickets are £5, which will include a glass of wine, and are available from Smiths Service Centre, Orwell Road, Clacton-on-Sea or telephone 01255 425469.

Craft Nursery are hanging basket specialists and dozens of examples will be on display.

Coffee Morning

The coffee morning held on 18 March at St Bartholomews church , Holland-on-Sea, raised a total of £125 for the RNLI. The lifeboat ladies organized plant and cake stalls as well as a raffle and helped on the gift stall which took over £50. Many thanks to everyone who gave their support.

The Essex Provincial Grand Lodge of the RAOB paid a visit to the Clacton lifeboat station on Wednesday evening to present a cheque for £2228.00 towards equipment for the new boathouse presently under construction in Hastings Avenue.

Provincial Grand Primo, Paul Jacobs, chose the lifeboat for his 2005 appeal. The money was raised through prize draws and bottles of coins.

During their visit they met members of the crew and watched the lifeboat launch on exercise.

The cheque was accepted by Rob Smith, Station manager for Clacton, who thanked them for their hard work in raising such a large sum.

The photo shows Paul Jacobs, with fellow Buffs Derek Knight, Klaus McMinn and Roy Thorn, presenting the cheque to Rob Smith, watched by members of the crew.

Lifeboat shop opens for last season

The RNLI gift shop on Clacton pier is opening on April 1^st for it’s last season. When it closes at the end of the summer the new shop will be ready in the new boathouse at Hastings Avenue. The portacabin has served well for many years but has no facilities for the staff. The shop regularly takes more than £20,000 a year, a great achievement for the volunteer staff.

The shop will be open seven days a week from 11am until 4pm and anyone who would like to come and help for a few hours can contact us via  e-mail

Coffee Morning

The Clacton Lifeboat Ladies are holding a coffee morning on Saturday 18 March at St Bartholomew's church hall, Frinton Road, Holland-on-Sea. There will be stalls selling plants, cakes, bric-a-brac and lifeboat gifts as well as the usual raffle. Doors are open from 10am until noon and admission is 50p which includes coffee and biscuits.

Monies raised will go towards equipment for the new boathouse currently under construction in Hastings Avenue.

Over 50’s help the lifeboats

Members of the Over 50’s Club who meet at St Bartholomew's church in Holland-on-Sea have been turning pennies into pounds to help the RNLI. Over the last eighteen months they have held raffles, bazaars and saved their loose change and today they handed a total of £360 to Richard Walker of the Clacton-on-Sea lifeboat committee.