THE Saltash branch of the RNLI held a thank you evening at Saltash Sailing Club for all those who had collected money for the RNLI around the Saltash area in the past year. Mrs Angela Payne-Hanlon and Mrs Lesley Haughton, joint chairmen of the Saltash branch, welcomed the mayoress of Saltash, Clare Ellison, county councillor Joyce Mepsted and the speaker, Dave Nicolls, Cornwall area fundraiser, who is also a member of the crew of the Falmouth lifeboat. Mr Nicolls described the active life of the lifeboatmen, past and present, and the boats they have used and the conditions in which they have been sent to sea to save lives. He illustrated his talk with slides and films of the lifeboats during various rescues. Mr Nicolls also said that 1,000 volunteers throughout Cornwall had raised more than £671,000 in the past year. He has been an active member of the lifeboat crew since 1980, and is now helmsman and navigator. There are 14 lifeboat stations in Cornwall. The RNLI relies on donations and collections from the public to keep the lifeboats going. It does not get Government funding. Mrs Payne-Hanlon, thanking the Saltash collectors who collect in the streets and also those who have collecting boxes on their premises, said the Saltash area had raised £7,000 in the past year and this total had included £2,295 raised in various ways by the committee, £2,500 from donations and from legacies, and £1,150 from collecting boxes.
