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Thank
you for visiting the official Web site for BARB, the Burnham-On-Sea
Area Rescue Boat, in Somerset, UK. BARB is a registered
charity that operates two life-saving rescue hovercrafts and an
inshore rescue boat in the Bridgwater Bay area. This Web site
provides all the latest BARB charity news, launch reports, station
information and fundraising updates. Please
bookmark this site by clicking here.
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Somerset
Caravan Club presents £1,400 cheque to BARB
NEWS
POSTED: 5 May, 2008
 A
bumper cheque for £1,400 was handed over to BARB,
the Burnham-On-Sea charity that runs the town's two rescue
hovercrafts, by fundraisers from the Somerset branch of
The Caravan Club on Monday (May 5th). The club has chosen
BARB as its charity of the year and during celebrations
to mark its 40th year on Bank Holiday Monday at a special
event in Frome, it presented the Burnham crewmembers with
the donation.
More...
County
Council Chairman welcomed to BARB's AGM
NEWS
POSTED: 26 April, 2008
 The
Chairman of Somerset County Council visited Burnham's hovercraft
station on Friday (April 25th) to meet crewmembers and act
as the special guest at the charity's Annual General Meeting.
Alan Gloak and sister Gill, pictured, received a tour of
the BARB hovercraft station and were also shown around the
town's lifeboat and Coastguard centres before moving on
to the charity's AGM.
More...
Hovercrafts
go on show at special sea safety day
NEWS
POSTED: 26 April, 2008
 Over
40 children from schools in the Burnham-On-Sea area got
the opportunity to visit the town's marine rescue services
on
Saturday (April 26th)
during a special Young Persons' Coastal
Day. Burnham's
lifeboat, hovercraft and Coastguard stations opened for
the event, which helped the youngsters learn more about
sea and beach safety, plus understand how the rescue crews
do their work.
More...
Highbridge
Youth Club visits Burnham hovercraft station
NEWS
POSTED: 4 April, 2008
 Youngsters
and staff from Highbridge Youth Club got a chance to see
Burnham's two rescue hovercrafts up close on Friday (April
4th) when they visited the seafront headquarters of BARB.
Twenty people were given a guided tour of the Spirit Of
Lelaina and Light Of Elizabeth hovercrafts by crewmembers
from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat.
More...
Cash
boost for BARB from Burnham Moose Lodge
NEWS
POSTED: 28 March, 2008
 Generous
members of a Burnham-On-Sea fraternal group have handed
over a donation of £100 to the town's rescue hovercraft
charity. Members
of Moose International Lodge 123 and their ladies circle
were given an talk about the Burnham Area Rescue Boat's
hovercraft on Thursday evening (March 27th) by BARB Secretary
Roger Flower and crewmember Ellie West.
More...
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Stranded
fire engine pulled to safety from beach sand
NEWS
POSTED: 17 April, 2008
 Three
tractors were used to pull free a trapped fire engine
on Berrow Beach, near Burnham-On-Sea, on Thursday evening
(April 17th) after it became stranded in soft sand. Burnham-based
rescue charity BARB was called to help free the Devon
and Somerset fire engine after its wheels sank into deep
sand near the top of the beach after its crew had tackled
a gorse fire south west of Berrow.
More...
Trapped
ambulance pulled free from soft sand
NEWS
POSTED: 13 April, 2008
 Rescuers
in Burnham-On-Sea came to the aid of an ambulance crew
on Sunday afternoon (April 13th) when their vehicle became
stuck in soft sand on the town's beach. Burnham-based
rescue charity BARB was alerted at 1.30pm after the wheels
of a Wessex Ambulance Service vehicle sank into the sand
while its crew provided first aid cover during the annual
Aquathon.
More...
Hovercrafts
help Royal Navy bomb disposal team
NEWS
POSTED: 10-12 April, 2008
 A
700kg German World War II bomb caused a major alert in
Burnham-On-Sea on Thursday evening (April 10th). A Royal
Navy bomb disposal team from Plymouth was called to the
town after a suspicious object - later confirmed as a
wartime bomb - was found by a fisherman partially uncovered
in the mud on the southern end of Stert Island.
More...
Family
rescued after their vehicle becomes trapped in mud
NEWS
POSTED: 5 April, 2008
 A
family of three was rescued at Brean on Saturday afternoon
(April 5th) after their high-performance vehicle became
trapped on the mudflats. A team of Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards
and crewmen from Burnham's Spririt Of Lelaina hovercraft
were called to the scene, next to Brean Down, at 2.20pm
after a man and two children became trapped in their vehicle
about 500m from the beach.
More...
Stranded
beach survey vehicle towed to safety from mud
NEWS
POSTED: 28 March, 2008
 Hovercraft
rescuers in Burnham-On-Sea were scrambled on Friday afternoon
(March 28th) after a beach surveying company's vehicle
became trapped in thick mud. The high-tech quad bike was
being used by Titan Environmental Surveys to carry out
a number of measurements along the beach when it sank
into the mud near Burnham pier.
More...
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More
Burnham-On-Sea hovercraft news:
Clevedon
Guides enjoy visit to hovercraft station [Mar 24, 2008]
Visitors flock to
hovercraft group's Easter Open Day [Mar 22, 2008]
RYA qualifications
presented to BARB recsue boat crew [Mar 15, 2008]
BARB
helps wildlife rescuers retrieve oil-coated birds [Feb
21, 2008]
BARB rescue boat
crew helps retrieve injured swan [Feb 13, 2008]
Hovercraft charity
'bowled over' by local club's donation [Feb 3, 2008]
Bristol society raises
funds for Burnham hovercraft charity [Jan 31, 2008]
Arctic
explorers start training with Burnham hovercraft crew
[Jan 26, 2008]
Burnham residential care home raises cash for hovercraft
[Dec 16, 2007]
Clevedon
angling shop reels in funds for BARB funds! [Dec 16,
2007]
Asda fundraisers
make donation to Burnham hovercraft charity [Nov 29,
2007]
Nursery pupils welcome Burnham hovercraft for special visit
[Nov 18, 2007]
Burnham hovercrafts
take part in town's annual winter carnival [Nov 12,
2007]
Weston
Coastguards in joint exercise with hovercraft crews
[Nov 5, 2007]
Brean's
Diamond Farm raises over £4,500 for Burnham hovercraft
[Oct 15, 2007]
Hovercraft fundraisers pull hovercraft - and funds in for
BARB! [Sep 30, 2007]
Berrow Brownies visit Burnham hovercraft and marine rescue
services [Sep 27, 2007]
MP praises Burnham-On-Sea hovercraft volunteers in visit
[Sep 16, 2007]
Both hovercrafts launched in search for mud walkers
[Sep 3, 2007]
Hovercraft helps rescue stranded autistic child from mud
[Aug 27, 2007]
Call-out delays BARB 15th anniversary celebrations [Aug
27, 2007]
Hovercraft scrambled
as children get stuck on mudflats [Aug 24, 2007]
BARB to celebrate
its 15th anniversary [Aug 21, 2007]
Big crowds turn
out for annual ESCAPE Day [Aug 4, 2007]
Hovercraft rescues family of three trapped on fishing boat
[July 31, 2007]
Special wedding blessing
besides hovercraft for BARB couple! [July 14, 2007]
Schedule for
Burnham's annual ESCAPE Day announced [July 10, 2007]
Fifth
anniversary of Lelaina tragedy marked by open day [June
23, 2007]
Hovercraft
open day to be held this weekend [June 19, 2007]
Hovercraft called to Stert
Island as yacht runs aground [June 10, 2007]
BARB crew warns
mud walkers about dangers of swimming [June 6, 2007]
Hovercraft helps in search
for deer trapped in Brean mud [June 4, 2007]
Retiring committee
members handed life memberships [May 29, 2007]
BARB Beach Safety
Awareness Day is a success [May 27, 2007]
BARB to hold
Beach Safety Awareness Day [May 22, 2007]
Click here for earlier Burnham-On-Sea
hovercraft news stories
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| .History
of the Burnham hovercraft |
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The
story behind Burnham's 'Spirit Of Lelaina' hovercraft
 BARB,
the group that runs the hovercraft, was formed in 1992 when
it began fundraising for its first rescue craft and own
boathouse. In June 1994 Anneka Rice and the BBC TV show
Challenge Anneka came to the rescue, building us
a boat house on Burnham seafront in just 72 hours!
With
the help of a generous grant from The Foundation for Sport
And The Arts, plus donations from local businesses, BARB
was able to purchase the rest of the equipment it needed
in order to become fully operational as a rescue boat service.
Following
the tragic death of five year-old Lelaina Hall in the mud
at Berrow in 2002, the Western Daily Press launched
a hugely successful fundraising campaign which brought in
a whopping £115,000.
This
funded the purchase of a fully-equipped hovercraft - called
The Spirit Of Lelaina - which is now stationed in
the boathouse at Burnham. During its first summer of operation
it helped and rescued up to 50 people. The Western Daily
Press and its readers remain one of the biggest supporters
of the service, raising many thousands of pounds towards
its operation.
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| .Challenge
Anneka team built seafront HQ in just 72 hours! |
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How
BBC's Anneka Rice built our hovercraft station...
 The
hovercraft station house which today houses the Burnham-On-Sea
hovercraft was built in a matter of hours in 1994 during
a flying visit by Anneka Rice and the crew from the popular
BBC TV show Challenge Anneka.
The
group behind the Burnham Area Rescue Boat had been formed
in 1992 when it began fundraising for its own boat house.
In June 1994 Anneka Rice came to the rescue, building a
boat house on Burnham-On-Sea seafront in just 72 hours!
The
BBC's TV crew were on hand to record every part of the rapid
construction and the final TV show was broadcast on BBC1
a few months later in the prime-time Challenge Anneka
show. Click here for
the full story and photos.
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| .Burnham's
powerful tides in the spotlight on BBC show |
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The
day BARB helped BBC's Jeremy Clarkson and 'Top Gear'
 A
Toyota Futura was left looking rather worse-for-wear after
Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC Top Gear team submerged
it in the sea at Burnham in October 2003!
Crew members from the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (BARB) helped
the BBC crew put the off-road vehicle through a rigorous
challenge by seeing whether the vehicle could survive one
of Bridgwater Bay's notorious storm tides.
The
vehicle was parked on the town's jetty and left to nature's
forces - but, not suprisingly, the sea won and the vehicle
failed miserably! The episode was shown on primetime BBC
television and helped to demonstrate the danger of the tides
along Somerset's coastline. Click
here for the full story and photos.
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EMERGENCIES:
If you need urgent help, CALL 999 and ask for the
Coastguard who will summon the hovercraft if needed.
OTHER
CONTACTS: Call BARB's Chairman on 07834
635 797. You can also write to us at: BARB, Marine
Rescue Centre, The Esplanade, Burnham, TA8 1BB.
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Hovercraft
lifesavers
Click
here to see the Burnham hovercraft
team
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BARB's latest
call-outs and launches:
Stranded
fire engine pulled to safety [April 17, 2008]
Trapped
ambulance pulled free on on beach [April 13, 2008]
Wartime
bomb safely detonated on Stert Island [April 10-12, 2008]
Family
rescued as 4x4 gets trapped in mud [April 5, 2008]
Stranded
beach survey vehicle towed to safety [March 28, 2008]
BARB
rescue boat helps bird rescuers after oil leak [Feb 21,
2008]
Hovercraft
helps in search for missing fisherman [Feb 8, 2008]
Hovercraft
rescues girls from Weston-super-Mare mudflats [Jan 20, 2008]
Both
hovercrafts launched in search for mud walkers [Sep 3, 2007]
Hovercraft
helps rescue stranded autistic child from mud [Aug 27, 2007]
Hovercraft
scrambled as children get stuck on mudflats [Aug 24, 2007]
Hovercraft
called to stranded Berrow windsurfer [Aug 18, 2007]
Hovercraft
rescues family of three stranded in mud on boat [July 31,
2007]
Yacht
runs aground on Stert Island, prompting call-out for hovercraft
[June 10, 2007]
Animal
experts call out hovercraft to help trapped deer [June 4,
2007]
Hovercraft
called to Brean amid fears for mud walker [June 2, 2007]
Car
trapped in soft sand is pulled free on town's beach [May
12, 2007]
Stranded
tractor pulled to safety after getting trapped in mud [April
29, 2007]
Inshore
lifeboat launched to help rescue injured bird at Pawlett
[Jan 14, 2007]
Hovercraft
called to investigate 'suspicious object' [Jan 7, 2007]
Injured
swan rescued by inshore rescue boat and Secret World [Dec
3, 2006]
Injured
cygnet retrieved by animal rescuers and BARB [Nov 27, 2006]
BARB
rescue boat crew recovers injured swan [Sep 30, 2006]
Sinking
fishing boat rescued by hovercraft [Sep 17, 2006]
Hovercraft
rushes to Brean as family gets stuck in mud [July 26, 2006]
Injured
swan at Combwich rescued by BARB [July 22, 2006]
Hovercraft
called out as boys swim to Stert [July 17, 2006]
Hovercraft
called out as netball team gets stuck [June 30, 2006]
Hovercraft
flies out to couple amid concern for their safety [June
11, 2006]
Sighting
of 'suspicious object' in mud sparks call-out [May 13, 2006]
Hovercraft
flies to the aid of injured dog walker at Berrow [May 10,
2006]
Jet
skiers' stranded van rescued from the sea in town [April
16, 2006]
Young
couple helped backed to shore at Brean Beach [Jan 21, 2006]
More
rescues...
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Hovercraft
photo gallery
Click
here for photos of the
Burnham hovercraft
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