George shares this latest news from Cowes RNLI. Ed
It’s the thought that counts at Cowes RNLI lifeboat station, when it comes to Bianca Flanders, aged 11, and her six year old sister, Clarissa.
After paying a visit with their mother, Ren, to the station in Cowes Week the girls went away determined to raise money for the charity. At their home in Gordon Road, Cowes, with the help of a neighbour they set about making home-made lemonade on a hot day and selling it by the glass from a pavement stall to passers-by.
10 per cent of taking for RNLI
The two girls, with a business acumen that belied their years, decided the RNLI should receive 10 percent of the takings.
So from the £13 of gross takings they duly turned up at the station to hand over £1.30.
So touched was station visits officer, Penny Maclean, that the girls and their mother were invited to a training night to receive a ‘thank you’ certificate and a cuddle from the RNLI’s mascot Stormy Stan.
Bianca explained,
“I liked what you do here – helping people without any government money.
Her proud mother said she was completely unaware of the initiative,
“I work nights as a senior care worker so I was asleep at the time.”
After receiving a rousing applause from the station volunteers, the two girls stayed to watch the lifeboat being launched for a training exercise.
Penny said,
“The amount of money is irrelevant in this case.
“This is an example of what young people on this Island will do for a good cause. Putting together a business model and then following it through with some hard work.”
Bianca said she would now be thinking of other ways of helping the RNLI.
