Over £4,000 was raised when 300 lifeboat supporters and crew flocked to the Batch Country Hotel at Lympsham on Saturday for a night of fundraising entertainment at the 2016 Burnham-On-Sea RNLI ball.
The evening began with a short presentation and video from organizer Lesley-Ruth Hart and Operations Manager Matt Davies, before the lights were dimmed for a juggling sequence from Circus Malabaristas.
Guests enjoyed a three-course meal and, afterwards, several awards were presented to Lesley-Ruth and members of the team.
RNLI Area Fundraising Manager Ellie Walker praised the team for fundraising for a new lifeboat, saying: “The volunteers were given the task last year of raising £48,000 for a new lifeboat. The community supported them and the resultant response enabled them to not only reach this, but exceed it.”
Operations Manager Matt Davies said: “We are proud of our new lifeboat, Burnham Reach, which we actually received last week, and thank the community for their response. This is your lifeboat, and if you are unlucky enough to get into trouble at sea, it, with our volunteer crew will come to your aid!”
Following presentations, there was musical entertainment from party band Six Machine from Burnham-On-Sea.
The ball guests were also invited to try their luck at a 100 prize raffle, a silent auction, and have fun using The Batch’s novelty photo booth.
Lesley-Ruth said the successful event had boosted RNLI funds by £4,300. “I am once again so proud to be part of Burnham RNLI – you all did the station proud. Thank you for doing everything you could to make it run without a hitch. £4,300 was raised for our station – an amazing total and that’s down to you.”
Pictured: The scenes at the annual Burnham RNLI ball (Photos Mike Lang)
