Open Day 22 also came with an extra visitor – local business man Darren McCarthy – with an extra boost to our FUNdraising efforts! 

Darren came down to enjoy our 2022 Open Day fundraiser event , but made it extra enjoyable for us by presenting our charity with a cheque for £400. Like everyone else, individuals, families, homes, businesses and charities, we’re all facing all manner of rising costs, so this cheque brings a very welcome boost towards our ongoing costs and the funds we need annually for training and vital equipment updates. 

Darren was delivering this donation on behalf of himself and his community-minded colleagues at the Battle Abbey Chapter, Rose Croix No 817.

Handing over the cheque, Darren told us: “We’re pleased to help our community charities and causes.” 

Regular followers of our blog may remember Darren who, with his Masonic colleagues,  kindly supported us in 2020, when the pandemic meant an urgent requirement for PPE and enhanced cleaning and sanitising, which was adding to the strain on our costs. Back then the photo was socially distanced (as shown below) so it was great for Kev to finally be able to shake Darren’s hand to thank him and his Chapter for the donation this time around.

Our charity trustees and volunteers are grateful for this support,

thank you so much to Darren & colleagues.

Whilst you’re here …

As an independent rescue service, we are run by volunteers and fundraise to buy all of our own equipment and to pay our considerable running costs. Since the pandemic began, these costs have risen to over £10,000 a year.

If you like the work we do and would like to support us, your donation would really be appreciated and would, ultimately, help us to help those in danger on our local coastline.

Thank you so much, from the volunteers at Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat.

After losing two Open Days to lockdown, Open Day 2021 was an amazing success, so we didn’t dare hope that our 2022 Charity Open Day would even come close to matching it. But the sun was shining (literally after the rain) and we’re pleased to share that thanks to our volunteers, friends, their families, local businesses and a celebrity comedian, we almost made it!

Yes, 2022’s charity Open Day final total is a fantastic fundraising total of £6225.20!

Although this doesn’t quite beat last year’s £6,800+ total, we remain amazed and overwhelmed by our local community’s support. This year, the gross amount received from the event was actually more than last year! It’s just that with rising costs, our overall spend on the event was higher this time around, which of course has an impact on the funds raised.

But this doesn’t take away from the superb success of the event and the kind generosity of all our supporters, including those who came on the day, those who donated items to sell or include in the raffle and those who gave additional donations in lieu of being able to come along.

High spots of this year’s Open Day included …

Our busy volunteers and supporters who helped on the day …

Our raffle ticket sales and folding up team of volunteers were kept very busy throughout the event and right up to the last minute with online sales too!

Whilst the cake stall was laden with goodies thanks to donations from local supporters, bakers and businesses.

And up on the sea wall, other volunteers offered happy times with hoopla, whack-a-rat and our new “Get Yer Kit On” timed challenge!

Our extra special visitors and supporters …

… Which was the kind of ‘shout’ we really love to hear and set the tone for our special event!

And a special visit from Darren McCarthy of Battle Abbey Chapter, Rose Croix 817, with a donation cheque for £400. More about this on another blog post.

Our fun dog show was a pawfect success

Here’s a winner … little Bowie, with owner Molly (and mum Anne-Marie) – first prize for the most appealing eyes! Well done Bowie!

Sea display x 2, as it happened …

Our volunteer crews also gave a sea display. This had to be altered on the day, due to the rough seas and rising winds and although this curtailed the display, our visitors also had the chance to see our volunteers in real-time action, when they were tasked to assist a broken down jet ski. And although we were right in the middle of Open Day, it meant they were well placed for one of the fastest emergency launches ever!

Crew members attending the ‘shout’ included (left to right) John, Helm Shaun and Martin. Our beach and base teams were also involved, with responsive communications, launch and retrieval tasks

And of course our special raffle draw

The final event of the day was the draw for the many generously donated items from local businesses and well-wishers, including the two star prizes of brand new e-bikes donated by Rye Bay E-Bikes.  

We were so lucky to have the wonderful Jo Brand to come along and do the honours for us. What a fabulous friend to our charity she is, joining in with plenty of fun and banter with the crowds and with our charity’s Chair, Kev, particularly. Jo made the drawing of the raffle so much fun and we were honoured that she came along to support our event.

We’re also especially grateful that Jo literally waited around at the end, for our crew to return from the rescue, and for our beach crews to safely bring the boat in, so that we could all have a team photo taken with her. Thanks Jo!

SPECIAL THANKS TO …

There are so many individuals, businesses and organisations to thank for the success of our day, we’d like to give them all a special mention …

THANKS TO EVERYONE

And of course to our amazing volunteers and their own friends and families who helped out with planning and delivering this and to everyone who attended or donated in whatever way to make the day a success.

OPEN DAY 2022 FINAL TOTAL …

£6225.20

 

This amazing amount will be used to support continued (and rising) running costs and to help us with some of our overall equipment and training projects.

To everyone who contributed to this fantastic result, thank you so much.