RNLI Thurrock

07/12/09

Santa,Santa,Santa........................

Two of our branch members participated, along with hundreds of others in the 2009 Santa Fun Run and Walk around Chafford Hundred on Sunday in support of the Thurrock Community Chest. I believe they started off in three legged mode but at some stage adopted the piggy back technique.

(Some people like to make life difficult for themselves !!! Ed)

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04/12/09

RNLI collection at Tesco
Lakeside

The Branch held a collection at Tesco, Lakeside and collected £276.
Thanks to everybody involved.

28/11/09

Plaque unveiling ceremony.
RNLI Gravesend

Branch members, family and friends travelled to RNLI Gravesend on Saturday to unveil a plaque in memory of Sara Collen. Maria Quin (Sara's cousin) then presented Ian Dunkley (station manager) with a cheque for £1,335, the proceeds of a sponsored skydive undertaken in September, in Sara's memory.

Maria was rewarded with a trip with the duty crew on a training exercise aboard the Atlantic 85 Olive Laura Deare II where she practised recovering a body from the water.

26/11/09

Thurrock Yacht Club's prize ceremony.
Grays

Five members of the branch attended Thurrock Yacht Club's prize awards evening. Our branch secretary Dermot made a short address to the assembled club members thanking them for their continued support of the RNLI both locally and nationally.

Our branch president Bernie Parsons MBE, who is also a keen yachtsman, picked up the BP Challenge Trophy with his yacht AJAX.

14/11/09

Charity Quiz Night
Hornchurch

Fourteen branch members and friends joined over a hundred experienced quiz fans at Havering college, Hornchurch for a pleasant and very well organised quiz night.

Following an opening address Mark accepted, on behalf of the branch, a framed watercolour of a Lifeboat.

Mid way through the evening we adjourned for an excellent fish and chip supper. Unfortunately our teams were not in contention for the top spot (more practice chaps) but I think everyone still enjoyed themselves .

Many thanks to Janet Bedford and her team for organising this event and also everyone who attended and contributed.

Amount raised £669. (Great Result ...Ed)

07/11/09

Charity Fayre
Christ Church, Rayleigh

The branch accepted an invitation to a charity fayre at Christ Church, Rayleigh, which geographically is outside our normal area of activity. In this instance we were representing Eastern region.
The hall was "compact and bijou" but the welcome we received was warm and friendly even meriting a mention in the organisers opening address. Visitor numbers were light but steady throughout the day.

We wish the prospective members of the new RNLI Rayleigh branch every success in their endeavours.

27/09/09

Fun Day

Awaiting report




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19 & 20/09/09

RSPB Country Fayre

This event held over two days at the RSPB nature reserve at Rainham Marshes is growing in popularity. This year we were sited in a large marquee as opposed to being exposed to the elements as we were in 2008.
We were very pleased that our local MP Andrew Makinlay dropped in and had a chat and offered his support,

19/09/09

Memorial Sky Dive
Headcorn Airfield, Kent.

A fund raising Sky Dive in memory of Sara Collen*, was undertaken by Maria Quin, Sara’s Cousin.

On a nice bright warm day Sara’s husband and parents joined Maria’s parents and other family members to witness this adrenalin loaded event.

Maria wore a T Shirt with Sara’s picture on it and all other family supporters a commemorative badge. These were kindly donated by Crystal Print of Billericay.

The total raised will be close to £1000.00

*(Sara was a committee member of Thurrock Branch.)

(Congratulations to Maria on an excellent achievement - Ed)

5/09/09

Orsett Show

With the memories of 2008 still fresh in our minds and with the support of the RNLI Sea Safety road show trailer not available to us, it was with some trepidation that we approached this show, the largest event in our calendar.
Fortunately we were treated to some excellent weather, if a little breezy, and the local residents didn't disappoint either, they turned up in their thousands.
Everbody seemed to be enjoying themselves, we met lots of our local supporters and were very well situated to see the Punch and Judy show.
I even managed to take some time out to test drive the RNLI "pocket kite" and found it is actually quite addictive.

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25/08/09

Charity Golf Day

The Ray Redsell memorial golf day was held at Thorndon Park golf club, and was attended by around thirty keen golfers. The players enjoyed a competitive round of golf in idyllic surroundings and perfect weather conditions (apart from one small shower), well this is Britain!!.

This was followed by dinner, raffle draw and a prize giving ceremony.

Many thanks to Joy Redsell and her team for organising such an enjoyable event.

04/08/08

Coffee Morning

For the second year in a row the weather was unkind to us, however in true British tradition we dodged from gazebo to gazebo in our soggy shoes and poncho's.
I understand the new conservatory was the refuge of choice.
The gardens obviously benefited and looked as beautiful as ever, many thanks, once again, to our hosts Len and Jose.
Despite the damp conditions this event raised over £900, (an increase on last year) so a big thank you to all who participated.

01/08/09

RNLI collection at Morissons

The Branch held a collection at Morissons,Grays and collected over £300.
Thanks to everybody involved.

29/07/09

Mayor of Thurrock visits RNLI Gravesend

The Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr. Maureen Pearce, joined fifteen branch members and guests in a visit to RNLI Gravesend. They were treated to a tour of the station, inspected the new Atlantic 85 lifeboat and got to meet some of the crew who operate them. During our visit the lifeboat was called to an incident on the Tilbury foreshore.
The weather was excellent and the visit concluded with lunch at a local hostelry.

11/07/09

RNLI Quiz Night 11th July 2009

The branch held a Quiz Night at the Masonic Hall in Grays and raised £58.

The winning team from Stanford went by the name "Somewhere on the M25" (obviously a clue there to their question answering abilities)

Well done to all who participated.

07/06/09

Thurrock Charity Cycle Ride

This years charity cycle ride run by Mar Dyke Valley Rotary Club attracted an entry of 515 riders, and despite some torrential rain early on the event ran smoothly. Police and St Johns Ambulance were in attendance.

This event could raise circa £30k for local charities.

Representing the branch was our chairman Gerard Rice who I am told has raised "substantial sponsorship" (for the RNLI) for completing the course.

07/06/09

RNLI Regional Awards Ceremony


Tricia Gurnett attended Robinson College, Cambridge, in June to receive the RNLI’s Silver Badge for her services to RNLI Education.

The presentations were made by Lee Firmin, Cox of the Aldeburgh Lifeboat.

This is the first time that the RNLI’s National Council has ever presented a Silver Badge for Education services, so the RNLI’s Eastern Regional officials were particularly pleased.

Tricia said “I feel very honoured to receive the first Education award. It is as much for all the volunteers in Eastern Region who work so hard giving talks to local clubs and teaching children and young people about water safety. It was a lovely day, and I was so pleased that my friends, Sherwin Chase and Christopher Thompson, were there to enjoy it with me.”

06/06/09

Naming Ceremony and Dedication


RNLI and civic dignatories joined families and crew on Saturday to officially name and dedicate the towns new Atlantic 85 Lifeboat

Olive Laura Deare II.

Following a moving ceremony accompanied by a brass band, Mrs Mary Straight, sister-in-law of the late Mrs Olive Deare (Donor) officially named the new lifeboat.

The lifeboat then proceeded to do a brief demonstration of its capabilities.

05/06/09

Round Britain Goes Round to the Lifeboat


Having successfully navigated their boat Reel Estate around Britain last year, Nick and Jo Craddock have finally managed to gather in all of the promised donations and handed over a cheque for £8,000 to Mark Criddle, coxswain of the Torbay lifeboat.

They were were hoping to raise £10,000 but the poor weather last summer thwarted many of their fundraising plans. However, they would like to thank all those who donated generously and they sincerely hope that those who joined them on their way round were not put off boating by some of the rough seas encountered during last year's typically British summer.

If you think Mark's face looks familiar, it could be because of the publicity which surrounded the rescue he and his crew undertook in perilous seas when the cargo ship ICE PRINCESS floundered off the coast of Devon last year. Their heroism earned them the 2008 Pride of Britain TV award.

30/05/09

Lakeside Shopping Centre

Stormy Stan joined representatives from the Eastern regional office and education sections at Lakeside shopping center on Saturday.
This event, part of the center's family activities week was to promote beach safety awareness.

25/05/09

St Margarets Church Fete

The branch once again joined in the festivities at St Margarets Church (Stanford le Hope) fete. On a lovely hot afternoon we joined hundreds of families enjoying all sorts of activities from bouncy castles through to the eccentric but typically British game of "catch an egg ". A stark contrast to our 2008 visit when we had to seek refuge in the church in a howling gale.

22/05/09

Thurrock Loses a Landmark

The mast of the Gull lightship which has dominated the Grays waterside since 1947 was removed last week, hopefully to be preserved and erected as a local monument to our maritime heritage.
The Gull is believed to be the second oldest surviving lightship in the world, dating possibly to the 1860s.
It was purchased in 1947 as Thurrock Yacht Club's "clubhouse" and has been a feature of the Grays waterside ever since.

10/05/09

Thurrock 5K Fun Run and Walk

The Branch was once again represented at this prestigious local event by our man of action Ken. Unfortunately his trusty companion Max had to sit this one out due to injury. I gather this led to a slower race time than anticipated (or maybe it was just a lack of training!). It was however completed in a respectable 30min 24sec.

The weather was warm and sunny with a gentle breeze, ideal for both runners and spectators.A couple of local youngsters did it with their legs tied together, in three legged fashion. Well done to them.

I am not sure what the total entry was but I spotted vest number 128.

27/03/09

RNLI Thurrock Dinner Dance

The Branch held its annual Dinner Dance recently in the Gold Room at the newly rebuilt Orsett Hall.
Branch members and special guests including the Mayor Cllr. John Everett sat down to an excellent meal in beautiful surroundings. There then followed a boisterous raffle, partly due to a couple of individuals winning several prizes, to be fair though they had bought a large number of the raffle tickets available.
The evening was rounded off with musical entertainment provided by a talented duo called "Pulse" and encouraging large numbers of guests to "strut their stuff" on the dance floor.
This very enjoyable event raised over £1000 towards the work of the RNLI.

( Well done to everyone involved. - Ed )

12/02/09

RNLI Silver Badge Award

Long standing RNLI supporter Tricia Gurnett has been awarded the RNLI Silver Badge for her work as a Presenter with the RNLI's Education Branch. Working closely with both adult groups, like the Townswomen's Guild, pensioners' clubs, etc, and also with children in schools and youth groups,she has carried the RNLI message far and wide.

Tricia commented "I am, naturally, delighted and honoured to receive the award, which was totally unexpected. I very much enjoy the presenting work. During the autumn, I was giving a talk every fortnight, and it is great to see the way people respond."

[ Tricia will receive her Silver Badge in June at an award ceremony in Cambridge.]

30/01/09

RNLI SOS DAY 30th Jan 2009

The branch held a Quiz Night at the Police club in Grays and raised £107. Bizarrely the winning team were called "The Runners Up".