Hope Cove Lifeboat have had a full year with 30 shouts to date and are held in high regard by the Coastguard for their level of service and response times. This is the time of year when they do all their annual checks and replacement of flares, lifejackets and safety equipment. They also have the boat inspected,

as required by the Rescue Boat Code. They have just taken delivery of some replacement dry suits for the

crew to make sure they are well protected when at sea. They will spend some time during this period

working on their launch vehicle which is suffering from regular immersion in the sea, as the salt water and

electro-mechanics do not mix. The crew are as usual still training regularly on Tuesday evenings and will start to launch at weekends to keep them all up to speed with the boat and their patch.

They have launched a new-look website to keep everyone up-to- date with news about crew and the lifeboat. This will also include the new online shop in response to a growing demand. The shop will have some new merchandise - perfect for Christmas gifts. Spread the word and visit: hopecovelifeboat.org to

see the new site. This is part of an important campaign to raise much needed funds to secure the

future operating the lifeboat. They get great support from locals and visitors, but are looking to the future.

They need to be in a position to renew the boat and launch vehicle when required, to ensure they can operate safely for the long term.

To help with that they are recruiting a new Hope Cove Life Boat Fundraising crew. They are looking for volunteers who can help

– specifically they are keen to hear from people who have marketing skills or experience – graphic design, communications, business development, digital marketing, social media. To

find out more, or if you think you can help, you can visit: [email protected].

They always welcome volunteers as we have many roles to fill, some that do not require going out in the

boat, for example we need people to look after and make sure the crews kit is fit for purpose, people

with skills to look after the tractor unit, people to help on the summer stall and other diverse roles to free

up the crew to focus on their role of saving lives.

Stephen Baguley, Chairman, Hope Cove Lifeboat said: ‘‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the crew and trustees for their commitment and the

amount of time they give to train and respond to shouts.

‘‘They put in hundreds of hours to make sure that

people who place themselves in danger can be saved .

‘‘Thanks as well to the people that support us by running events and functions to raise funds for us, and we

are also very grateful for a recent large anonymous donation which all go to help to keep us going.’’