Charity o th month
Each issue we find out more about one of the good causes you could help out with your knitting…
Leah Hunter RNLI lifeboat volunteer crew member
Charity Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Established 1824
What do you do? I’ve been on the crew at Whitby Lifeboat Station for more than six years after joining on my 18th birthday. We have an all-weather lifeboat and an inshore boat. I’m on the crew for both and I’m currently a trainee helm for the inshore boat. I’m also an Education Volunteer and give tours of the station and safety advice to school children on visits, although they are not happening at the moment due to coronavirus.
Latest fundraising news My gran Cecilia started knitting for the RNLI after I joined. She learned to knit when she was four years old and she’s 72 now. She has made hundreds of little yellow wellie boots that we have sold at stalls and station open day events in the past and she now has a new addition, the ‘RNLI Covid Crew Bear’, which is a personalised crew bear wearing a face mask. Although she doesn’t know how much she has raised for the RNLI it must be hundreds of pounds – she’s certainly spent plenty of money on the wool!
What can we do to help? The RNLI relies entirely on the generosity of its supporters and fundraisers. Last year, donations helped our volunteer crews and lifeguards save the lives of 374 people, while six in every 10 lifeboat launches are only possible due to the extraordinary kindness of supporters leaving a gift to us in their Will. To knit a pair of lifesavers go to https://rnli.org/magazine/ magazine-featured-list/2020/april/knit-apair-of-lifesavers for the free pattern. Contact details: Phone 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) Website rnli.org/support-us/give-money/ donate