How Can You Help? / Get Involved
Make A Donation
St Abbs Independent Lifeboat is run entirely by volunteers and funded by the generosity of the general public and local businesses. Being an independent, wholly volunteer-run Lifeboat comes with its challenges, one of which can be our visibility to raise funds in the shadow of our good friends the RNLI. Rising to this challenge, St Abbs Independent Lifeboat ensures that every penny donated to our Lifeboat goes directly into the charity’s funds and is used to run a first class service. The extraordinary gift of overwhelming historical and ongoing support from the public since we became independent in 2016 has been humbling.
There are many ways in which a donation can be made. We would be additionally grateful if you would consider enabling us to claim Gift Aid on your donation by sending us this form (CLICK HERE to download) if you are an eligible UK taxpayer. This boosts your donation by 25p of Gift Aid for every £1 you donate.
By post – if you would like to send a cheque, along with Gift Aid forms if applicable, the postage address is Ebba Centre, St Abbs TD14 5PH. Cheques should be made payable to St Abbs Lifeboat, and please do include your address so we can send a letter of thanks.
Via JustGiving : we have a JustGiving fundraising page which can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/stabbs-lifeboat
JustGiving QR code :
Standing Order – if you would like to donate monthly you can set up a direct debit with your bank - just email us and we will send you our bank details to enable you to do this. Also please do consider sending us the Gift Aid form if you wish to Gift Aid your donation.
Payroll Giving - find out how you can give directly from your wages or pension here and benefit from tax relief.
Leave a gift in your will – if you are considering leaving gifts in your will, as we are a member of the National Independent Lifeboat Association, supporters of our Lifeboat are eligible for a free will with https://www.freewills.co.uk/charity/nila This service allows you to make a free, legally-binding will in 15 minutes. Each will is checked by legal experts and your will can be updated quickly and easily for free, forever. For more advice here is our Wills Information Pack
Donate in any of our collection boxes at local outlets. These have raised £30,000 to date.
Take home one of our phenomenally successful 5p pots. These have raised £5000 to date.
Volunteer With Us
We are always on the look out for volunteers who can assist us with all the many aspects of running an organisation, a lifeboat, and lifeboat premises. We are also constantly in need of helping hands with fundraising, events, publicity and sales of merchandise. Whilst some of these roles (crew specifically) have local distance restrictions and specific criteria, others do not and we welcome volunteer input and expertise from across the Scottish Borders, or indeed the UK.
All volunteers are given full training in whatever role they chose, so don’t be worried about relevant experience or qualifications. Please just get in touch to have a chat.
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Recruitment to our crew – want to be out on a shout, or support the operational team onshore, or do you have maintenance skills and experience? If so please contact secretary@stabbslifeboat.org.uk to start the application process.
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Recruitment to our organisation –It’s not just about the boat! We operate as a professional charitable organisation and as such we require administrative, financial, legal, media and PR expertise. We rely 100% on donations from the public so our team has to ensure that we maintain a high professional standard and public profile at all times as this is instrumental to our success. If you have any of these skills and think you can help us improve the way we operate, please contact [email protected]
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Recruitment to our shop – great at sales? Our shop is open each Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm from Easter through to the end of October with extended times for bank holidays and other particular events. In November, we are open 12-3 on Saturdays and Sundays. We have a friendly group of volunteers who work on a rota system. If you are interested in working in the shop, please contact [email protected]
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Recruitment to our fundraising team - the lifeboat team organises a number of events annually eg the lifeboat gala, the Easter bunny trail, quizzes, race nights etc. We are always needing willing volunteers to help in a range of tasks for these events. If you would like to volunteer please contact [email protected]
Buy Some Fab Stuff
The sale of our top quality St Abbs Independent Lifeboat merchandise has been a critical part of our fundraising effort from the very start of our campaign for independence. All our shop staff are volunteers and all the profit from the shop goes directly to the running of the lifeboat.
In the beginning, we sold our products from a trailer situated next to Rock House in the Harbour. When it was windy, we sometimes lost items into the harbour, and when it was cold, we froze. Then, in the summer of 2019 we were delighted to move all our merchandising into a purpose built shop, thanks to the Harbour Trust, at the top of the slip in the Harbour, next to Ebb Carrs Café. These premises were officially opened by Sir Boyd Tunnock on 30th June 2019.
Our shop is now open each Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm from Easter through to the end of October. In November, we are open 11am to 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
We sell all the t-shirts and hoodies that have proved so popular, plus plenty of other new products each year. We work in close partnership with Dunbar T Shirt Shop who supplies most of our branded products.If you have a couple of hours spare and would like to help out in the shop then please get in touch: [email protected]
We are delighted to announce that our online shop is now open! You can purchase our t-shirts, hoodies, best-selling items and online exclusives with ease.
Organise Your Own Events or Fundraising Initiative
Many individuals, organisations and local groups independently run events on behalf of the lifeboat, or make donations to the lifeboat following an event. Some individuals use justgiving or other such platforms to run their fundraising event, others just operate independently. If you are thinking of running an event, please do get in touch via [email protected]. We can discuss a numbers of ways to assist and we can of course help with promoting the event through our media channels. In addition, following the event we are always pleased to organise some publicity at the lifeboat shed to recognise the donations and thank the event organisers.
If you are an individual or business who would like to sell items and donate a proportion of the profit to the lifeboat, please get in touch. We are not able to endorse or promote particular items that are for sale, but we are always pleased to organise publicity at the lifeboat shed to recognise the donations and thank the business.
Thank You!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED ST ABBS INDEPENDENT LIFEBOAT
The St Abbs Lifeboat operates independently from the RNLI and receives no direct funding from either the RNLI or the Government. Our boat is one of around 60 independent rescue services that operate around the UK. It is manned entirely by volunteers and funded by the generosity of the general public. Every penny raised by St Abbs Lifeboat goes directly towards running of the boat and the organisation.
Donors - We would like to thank everybody who has donated to St Abbs Independent Lifeboat in the past, and those who do so in the future. Without your help we simply could not operate.
Businesses - Thanks also to the many local businesses who support us on a regular basis with assistance or goods or fundraising events.
Ad Perpetuam Memoriam - we posthumously thank all those who have given donations either through their estate, or through funeral collections and extend our condolences to their families in their time of loss. You will always be remembered.
Anonymous - And finally, whilst we do strive to send our thanks to those who donate by various means, we would also like to thank our many supporters who donate anonymously.
Our story is an emotional and humbling one and it has obviously touched the hearts of many. As a result, the support and fundraising efforts have been immense. From getting our new independent lifeboat in the water in 2016 to the present day where we carefully maintain all our assets, train our crew to the highest levels and keep up with advances in technology, we strive to provide a first class service using your donations.
We use our Annual General Meeting every year to gather the team, supporters and the general public together to explain how we use our funds, to call for volunteers to help us maintain our exceptional work and to thank everyone involved. Why not join us? Check our calendar for the date of the next AGM.
