2012 Boathouse Appeal
The Inshore Boathouse and Slipway project is a £1,000,000- development
that has been long awaited at Southend on sea. With major contributions
from legacy donors, local businesses, local community groups, individuals
and members of the volunteer lifeboat crew already helping towards the
total needing to be raised.
First
in their sights is an immediate £17,000- required by August this
year towards a total of £75,000- which is needed by December 2012.
Success at this point will formally end the campaign. So if you are taking
part in an event and wondering whom to support, do consider the legacy
your donations will make if directed towards us. Already the new slipway
has streamlined the Hovercraft launch and recovery, making it faster and
safer.
A new Boathouse will do far more than just offer a safer environment for
the crew, as it will also be an Inshore focal point for Southend RNLI,
for crew meetings, training and maintenance and with casualties bought
ashore benefiting from comfort and shelter. The very notion of a building
in which the crew, both on and off duty, can conveniently access will
only lead to better cohesion for the station as a whole. In truth, the
Lifeboat
crew have only ever known 'temporary accommodation' inshore at Southend.
The impact this project will have on the station is difficult to overstate.
So do listen out on local radio and read the papers for more information
on events supporting this major campaign. If you are thinking of supporting
us do make sure you let us know and your details will be put on our Boathouse
Appeal web page, where links to your donation site or numbers for
text donations can be published. Drop us a line here
or to Southend-on-sea@RNLI.org.uk if
it is you and be sure to check here regularly for updates as more and
more events are announced throughout the summer and the latest figure
raised will be shown.
North London Barmy Army
£2k cheque presentation
It's not often you meet a group of people with more things to play with
than us, when you consider our tractor, buggy, hovercraft, davit, not
to mention our 3 Lifeboats, but we truly met our match with this group!
Take a visit to their website at www.nlba.co.uk
and you will see just what I mean.
Joking aside though, no sooner had they presented our Chairman Jim, pictured
above, with a massive cheque for £2,000 towards our Boathouse appeal
than they found themselves witnessing an actual Shout as two persons needed
picking out of the incoming tide just South of the station.
The Hovercraft got to the casualties just in time to make a difference
- and part of that difference was the fact that the Hovercraft was out
and crew were dressed up ready to go, albeit for a photoshoot. So it would
not be an understatement to say that those visiting NLBA members played
a fair part in saving two lives on Saturday.
The two casualties were bought back to the Inshore station for recovery
and I am sure the poignancy of this Shout was not lost on our generous onlookers
who will have realised just how useful a bespoke Inshore facility will
be for this situation.
So thank you very much indeed NLBA, it was a pleasure to meet you all and we hope you had a safe journey home.
V.I.P. visitors
Bishop of Bradwell and our Cannon Stephen Burdett
The Bishop of Bradwell The Ven.John Wraw joined us at the shore end of the Pier yesterday and was shown our existing RNLI buildings and given the details of our proposed new boathouse. They were unable to visit the wet end but he was given a talk about the Southend Sation and was very interested in the work we do and could not believe how busy we are. Stephen Burdett arranged the visit and a good time was had by all. Has Jim shrunk or are they really that big?
