Delighted crewmembers at Burnham-On-Sea’s rescue hovercraft are celebrating again this week after receiving one of their biggest-ever cash donations – more than £9,000 from Brean Golf Club.
The major cash injection comes after a major 12-month fundraising drive by players and staff at Brean Golf Club, who picked the Spirit Of Lelaina craft as their charity of the year.
A series of golf days, race nights, raffles, quiz evenings and other fundraising activities has been held during the year – all of which have been firmly backed by the 400 members.
And at a presentation at Brean Leisure Park over the weekend, club captains Bob Masterman and Deirde Wheadon handed over a huge cheque for £9,352.19 to Simon Triggol, a hovercraft pilot at BARB, the charity that runs the life-saving service.
“We’re delighted to have raised such a large sum for the hovercraft and hope that this really makes a difference and helps you save more lives along this strip of coast,” said Mr Masterman.
“The hovercraft has a very special place in our hearts locally and we wanted to raise as much as possible. BARB does such a fantastic job.”
Delighted Mr Triggol said: “Words cannot describe how grateful we are for this donation – all of which will go straight into keeping the hovercraft running, training our team of volunteers and funding the second craft coming later this year.”
Alan Miller, chairman of BARB, added: “We’re gob-smacked that such a huge amount has been raised over just a year. A big thank you goes to Bob and Pat Masterman and ladies captain Deirdre Wheadon for all their hard work over the last year. A big cash injection like this is a fantastic way to start the year.”
The major donation comes just days after a big £4,500 donation from Bristol City Football Club and continuing generous support from readers of the Western Daily Press newspaper.
The hovercraft group has annual running costs of £20,000 and is in the process of buying a second hovercraft to expand its life-saving operation along the Somerset coastline.
During its first 18 months of operation, the Spirit of Lelaina has helped and rescued more than 85 people along the Somerset coastline.
The hovercraft was launched in 2004 after a successful fundraising appeal by the Western Daily Press following the tragic death of five-year-old Lelaina Hall who became trapped in treacherous mud at Berrow beach in 2002.
RELATED LINKS:
