Spotlight On… The RNLI In Royston 
Having been a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) fund raising branch in Royston for over 10 years now I always find it amusing when collecting that people say:
“How come the RNLI is in Royston when we are not near the sea?”
Of course visitors to our Coastal areas will see the RNLI more prominently and also be more aware of the charity’s life saving work. 
But behind the frontline Crews and Lifeguards saving lives, there is an army of volunteers who work tirelessly up and down the country – coast and inland – fundraising to support the dedicated front line workers. In addition, there are a number of Educational Volunteers who go into schools to present on Beach Health and Safety, as well as promoting the RNLI’s Respect the Water initiative.Via this latter initiative the RNLI hopes to reach half a million children annually to educate and make them aware of the dangers both from the sea and inland water.
As a fund-raiser I once had a lady say to me:- “Oh yes – let me give you something, I collected once for a charity and know how thankless a task it is !”. Well in my years of collecting I have never found it anything but rewarding. The Public is very supportive of the RNLI and here in Royston’s environs there are many with family associations, sometimes with the RNLI or others with livelihoods – past and current – at sea whether via naval, merchant shipping connections or just folk who love being out in boats as a pastime. And some have even been rescued or assisted by the RNLI either at sea or on the beaches or rocky outcrops when stranded. In fact whilst collecting we hear many interesting tales, so collecting is anything but thankless and in fact very rewarding. Most especially there is huge respect for the RNLI and its work as a very British charity, but also in the way it is administered and run without any Government funding.
We are always and remain extremely grateful to all those who donate to the RNLI and in Royston are always looking to grow our pool of collectors. We are only asking for folk to collect for an hour at a time and perhaps only twice a year – the more volunteers we can tap lessens the load on of us all but contributes greatly to the charity’s overall work. So if you feel that say twice a year or so you could just surrender an hour of your time to a really worthwhile charity we would welcome you to the cause. Please feel free to contact myself or our Branch Secretary – our contact details can be found on The Listing Website: www.bit.ly/RNLIRoyston
