Thanks to Michaela for a round-up of activity by Ryde Inshore Rescue. In her own words. Ed
Ryde Inshore Rescue has survived their busiest year ever and would like to send out a BIG thank you to everyone that has supported them throughout 2011.
105 callouts
Operationally the lifeboat station has attended 105 callouts to date, which is their highest amount ever and in additional dealt with 79 beach safety incidents after the withdrawal of the IW council lifeguards.
The busyness of the year has put a large amount of pressure on the crew and many did not see their families for much of the summer and as soon as it quietened off the crew had to turn their heads back towards fundraising; unfortunately being so busy meant the running costs were over £55,000 for the year.
Fundraising highlights
There were highlights throughout the year though, with Orange Day in February bringing in over £8,000 and a visit from Peter Andre in June allowed the headquarters to be temporarily repaired until the final £70,000 in funding can be found to extend and repair it permanently.
We really hope that 2012 will be our year, as we’ve been so busy operationally in 2011 we have had little chance to fundraise for the remaining funds to extend our lifeboat station.
We need your support
We still fail to attract grant providers as we are not specifically set up for certain groups; therefore we once again have to turn to our community for support, when they have already done so much for us!
With operational running costs now so high funds raised have to be put into keeping the unit running leaving only a small amount left at the end of the year to be transferred in to the building fund.
Desperate state of building
The building is once again in a desperate state with not enough room to house everything and the roof taking a battering with the stormy weather.
The lifeboat station will be on call all throughout the festive season (yes callouts on Christmas and Boxing Day do happen!) and would like to wish all Islanders a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
