Burnham-On-Sea RNLI appeal raises £48,000 for new lifeboat
An appeal to buy a new lifeboat for the Burnham-On-Sea area has raised £48,000 in a year – and the new vessel will go into service next month.
It means the RNLI will now be able to buy a new D-Class lifeboat so crews will have the latest equipment to enable them to continue to save lives.
It is due on station in September and it will be officially named Burnham Reach in a ceremony next April.
In June last year, the RNLI started an appeal to fund the new D-Class lifeboat to serve Burnham.
The initial target was to raise £48,000 in 12 months. A great deal of work went into raising this money and many events were held, with the fundraising team working closely with the crew.
The new D-Class lifeboat D–801 named Burnham Reach is due on station in September 2016 with the official naming ceremony scheduled for April 2017.
Ellie Walker, RNLI Community Fundraising Manager, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I am humbled and delighted that this magnificent sum has been reached. It is all due to the efforts of our amazing volunteers plus the generosity of the people of Burnham and I am very proud of them.”
“We have exceeded the cost of providing a new D- Class lifeboat and with another Atlantic 85 class lifeboat and modifications to the existing boathouse required in the next year or so we need to keep working and continue fundraising to ensure Burnham has all the right facilities to enable them to continue to save lives.”
Lifeboat spokesman Mike Lang added: “As an echo from the past, volunteer fundraisers at the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury RNLI branch have enthusiastically supported Burnham-On-Sea, having organised quizes, table top sales and other events for the appeal. The people of Cheltenham also funded Burnham’s first RNLI lifeboat The Cheltenham, in 1866.”
Pictured: Cheltenham fundraiser Paul Wroot and his family presented a cheque for £1,240.50, representing the contribution from the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury branch.
