FILB Newsletter - March 2021

 

Good morning members, friends and supporters,

This newsletter is to give you a small update on what we have been doing of late.

 

Donation and membership form.

Attached with this email is a copy of the donation and membership form. If you have an old form you will notice that my phone number for contact has changed. Although a large number of you are life members some of you have annual memberships which may be due for renewal.  If your renewal is due and you would  like to renew for 2021/2 please use this form. For other life members and friends who would perhaps like to make a donation you can use the same form. Cheques should be made payable to Freshwater Lifeboat. You know it would be put to good use and hugely appreciated..

If anyone wishes to be removed from our database please let me know, it will be done immediately in line with GDPR rules.

 

What’s been happening?

This year has been challenging for us all in many ways, mainly because of the massive impact of Covid. For a great deal of the time we have been unable to carry out training or work on the boats although still on call for part of the time, several shouts were undertaken.  The crew seem to spend a lot of time continually removing the stones from the slipway and promenade with Stan our tractor unit. The bay of course is looking beautiful as usual as you can see from this pic taken last Sunday morning. Thanks to Classic Cottages you can see this great view whenever you like from the live video webcam in the “media” tab of our web site. The major project of extending the slipway beyond the shingle line is ongoing through our marine architect John Berry, who is working free of charge, with approval being granted by the IW Council, but now further approval paperwork is awaiting input from the Marine Maritime Organisation. Once this is finalised and hopefully approved full costings will be sought and of course fundraising will then begin in earnest.

 

 

The shop operated in a limited but very effective way thanks to our wonderful volunteer team, but only from mid July until October, so we lost over 3 months trading. We operated from the doorway behind a perspex screen. Nobody was actually allowed in the shop and we could not sell books, but that didn’t stop really good sales of ice cream and drinks!!  Everything else that was available was displayed in the windows and customers just had to pay and collect from the door screen. This obviously had a huge impact on our income but thanks to your generous donations we are coping OK. None of the usual grants that we apply for annually have been available to us this past year. Obviously there are others who need the support more than we do.

 

This year, thanks to hard work by Boris Moskoff and his team the lovely mosaic was rebuilt after being thrashed by several gales. It is now kept inside over the winter to save it getting damaged again. It’s going back out this week.

 

 

Along with the other 2 Independent Units on the Island we were meant to be Red Funnel Ferries Charity of the year in 2020 but because we realised that others were more in need than us we agreed to defer it to this year. The funds that were raised were shared to other more needy charities. Hopefully when travel to the Island resumes we will receive substantial donations from RF in 2021.

 

We of course weren’t able to hold any functions or open days last year and although we didn’t think we would be able to, after completing copious IW Council risk assessments etc we held our free Santa’s Grotto for the local children as usual in December -well - not actually as usual because we weren’t allowed to operate indoors but thanks to the generosity of the Travelling Tavern we were able to locate Santa in the drivers seat of his enormous red bus outside. Every child received a small present, funding for which was donated by local businesses, and everyone got a free mince pie - thanks to a donation of 300 from Medina Foods, our Ice cream supplier. Santa was of course Covid securely separated from the children. 135 children were seen by Santa in 4 hours !

Travelling Taverns operated in our car park under licence for several days last year and along with our regular donor Wightwood Pizza and also Stripped on the Road burgers. Between them they donated well over £4000  to FILB coffers. Thank you guys! Hopefully we will see them again in the Bay this year.

 

Well that’s all for now.

Hopefully we will see some of you this summer. We plan to open the shop again in mid April behind the screen again and if all goes well fully when permitted.

 

Keep safe everyone

Kind regards

Rod Adams, MBE

Principal Fundraiser, Freshwater Independent Lifeboat

Email: rod.adams@wham-bam.net.

Web site:  www.freshwaterlifeboat.org.uk

 

Pic taken pre Covid of course!