This is the biggest fundraising day of the year for the RNLI in Amble, the town I grew up in and the town where my parents still live.
This year it was extra special as Amble is trying to raise £200,000 for a new Shannon Class lifeboat to come on station in 2017 just as our current all weather boat is coming to the end of its service life.
This year the event was opened by crime writer Ann Cleaves, Who was also launching the paperback version of one of her books, which features Cliff House in Amble on its front cover.
There was loads happening on the day from the normal Sunday market to stalls around the lifeboat station and in the Harbor quayside car park to raise money for the Shannon appeal. These included tombolas, raffles, Motorbike rides, cake stalls and much more with all the money raised going towards the appeal.
In the afternoon there was due to be a mock rescue done with our two boats and the RAF Sea king helicopter which sadly couldn't make it due to a diver going missing that morning and sadly had not been found by the afternoon.
The lifeboat crews though still brought out both the boats and did stunts in the water to show the crowds what they do. They even did a "push the lifeboat man in the water" on the dock side by the lifeboat station which actually raised £45 all on its own.
The grand total for the 2014 day was £10,000 which is brilliant. Watch out for more news coming on the blog as fundraising takes hold for the new boat!
