THE Lifeboat Crew at Teignmouth have been very busy over the last few weeks as have our Lifeguards patrolling the beaches at Teignmouth and Dawlish – and it’s not even school holidays yet!

The volunteer Lifeboat Crew are on standby 24 hours a day, as witnessed by a recent search for a person in the water at 2.45am returning to the Lifeboat Station at 4am.

We are pleased to report that the RNLI shop at Teignmouth next to the Point Car Park is now open from 11am to 2pm and at last, the fundraising season has started again.

The boathouse is also open with the same opening times as the shop.

Please come and visit us, learn more about ‘The Two Annes’ and buy some lovely gifts and souvenirs from the shop.

There’s something for everyone. At this point we would like to pay tribute to Trish Mortimore who has decided to retire after having been our souvenir secretary and shop manager for 15 years.

Enjoy your retirement and thank you, Trish.

On the subject of long-serving volunteers, the Teignmouth RNLI fundraising team chairman Peter Hartley presented David Youle with a certificate recognising well over 20 years of fundraising for the RNLI, at his home near Okehampton.

David has been involved in running events such as open gardens, coffee mornings and emptying collection boxes.

It was also David’s 90th birthday.

The RNLI would like to thank David for his tremendous support and dedication, and trust he enjoyed his birthday celebrations.

Unfortunately, the Charity Day at Dawlish on July 3 was cancelled because of the weather, but the forecast looks brighter for the Charity Day on the Den at Teignmouth on Saturday, July 17, which will be going ahead between 10am and 4pm.

There will be a variety of RNLI stalls present. Another reason to come and see us.

Look out for posters giving the dates for the monthly Charity Days at Dawlish and Teignmouth from now through to October.

Also look out for our Where’s Welly Treasure Hunt which will be taking place throughout August.

Maps and questionnaires will be available from the RNLI Boathouse, Dart and Partners Estate Agents, Laura Wall Gallery and the Teign Heritage Centre, for a suggested donation of £5 for Teignmouth RNLI, with a goodie bags available for £2 for the youngsters.

The whole of Teignmouth is getting involved so it should be really good fun.

We would also like to record our ongoing thanks to Ruth and George Gilham at 26 Northumberland Place in Teignmouth, who are generously donating a percentage of the takings from their holiday accommodation business to the RNLI.

We have had two very successful bucket collections at Morrisons in Totnes and Teignmouth, thanks to the Community Champions, Rebecca at Totnes and Maureen at Teignmouth and the management and store teams that helped raise the monies.

We are starting to collect items for our stall at the Boat Jumble at Newton Abbot racecourse in September, so if you have anything boat related that you would like to donate to the RNLI, please get in touch with Lisa on 07979 937404.

And finally, we are always happy to welcome more volunteers to our fundraising team. If you are interested, please contact Peter Hartley on 07831 278453 for an informal chat. It’s good fun and a great way of meeting new people. Please respect the water and stay safe.