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Burnham
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March
4, 2006
Burnham-On-Sea
lifeboat supporters and crew gather for annual meeting
More
than 40 crewmembers and supporters of Burnham-On-Sea RNLI gathered
in the town's Sailing Club for the group's annual meeting on Friday
night, March 3rd.
Chairman
Tony Winterburn, pictured above, opened the meeting, saying "how
quickly the first two years of operation had gone," and "how
great the technical strides forward had been during that time."
Lifeboat
Operations Manager Martin Cox said Burnham RNLI now has 45 operational
staff, whom he called "a first class team with a superb enthusiastic
spirit."
 Mr
Cox reviewed the highlights of the year - which included the arrival
of Kay's Cart, a new launching tractor, visits by MP David Heathcoat-Amory
and VIPs from the RNLI in Poole, plus the opening of the town's
new RNLI Shop.
Martin
looked back at the 26 shouts that Burnham-On-Sea's two lifeboats
had responded to during the year - a number that was up on the
previous year's 17.
Supporters
Group Liaison Officer Jendy Weekes (pictured above) spoke about
her team's "incredible efforts" in selling souvenirs
and merchandise over the last year, and getting the new seafront
shop up and running.
She
praised her fellow Supporters Group members and all those who
had helped to get the new shop ready in time for the official
launch by John Inverdale. She said the shop had already got off
to a good start and that was looking forward to a lucrative summer
of fundraising.
Lifeboat
Treasurer Mike Ross thanked all those who had given so generously
to Burnham-On-Sea RNLI over the last year, adding that income
had once again been "very healthy" but he cautioned
that "fundraising must remain a great priority."
Geoff
Gates, chairman of the local RNLI fundraisers, said in his report
that more than £11,000 had been raised during the previous
12 months thanks to successful house-to-house collections, events,
legacies, collection boxes and flag days.
 He
also read a report from Rebecca Connor, RNLI senior area fundraising
manager for Somerset and Dorset, in which she praised the team
in Burnham for all their hard work over the year.
Guest
speaker Simon Pryce, RNLI Divisional Inspector for the south,
(pictured right) highlighted the "incredible sense of commitment
at Burnham," which he said was "like a breath of fresh
air."
He
said that a new role would be created at the station in coming
months - a Lifeboat Sea Safety Officer - and that this person
would work alongside press officer Mike Lang to further raise
the profile of sea safety in the area.
Mr
Pryce also said it was likely that a new D-Class lifeboat would
arrive later in the year and he also spoke about new fitness tests
that all RNLI crew members would be expected to complete.
Certificates
of competence to lifeboat helms were presented to Scott Rundle,
Jason Coombes and Glen Cutter (pictured above). Also, DLA Gerry
Prout collected a certificate on behalf of his son, Nick.
The
meeting closed with refreshments.
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