Fund-raisers involved the RNLI's £1m Tamar Lifeboat Appeal for Angle celebrated reaching their target on Friday with a visit to the only Tamar class RNLI lifeboat in Wales - Tenby! As reported in last week's issue, the volunteer crew at Angle RNLI lifeboat station are celebrating receiving a magnificent donation, which will ensure they receive their state-of-the-art £2.6m Tamar class lifeboat. The donors, who wish to remain anonymous, have pledged £1.6m to bring the Angle appeal to a successful conclusion. The RNLI £1M Tamar Lifeboat Appeal for Angle has brought in nearly £400,000 since it was launched in 2006. The unexpected windfall of £1.6m has come as a welcome boost to the charity, which will fund the remaining £600,000 towards the cost of the £2.6m lifeboat. The RNLI Tamar for Angle appeal was launched in Birmingham in 2006 to celebrate the historic links between the city and the sea. Inland communities have pulled out all the stops to bring in the cash, with some fantastic achievements from groups, businesses and individuals alike. Pembrokeshire RNLI supporters have also been forging ahead and have made a substantial contribution to the fund-raising drive. And last Friday, special contributors were given the opportunity to board the only Tamar class RNLI lifeboat in Wales. Invited guests from the Midlands headed for Tenby to experience a training exercise on board the RNLI's first operational Tamar, Haydn Miller. They included David Butler, assistant governor Rotary District 1060 (Birmingham/Midlands) and Paul Farrow, chief executive of Birmingham Law Society, and society president Philip Steel. The RNLI is the District Governor's Charity of the Year and already £7,000 has been raised for the Tamar Lifeboat Appeal, while the Law Society president has also adopted the RNLI as its charity of the year, raising £6,000 towards the appeal. June Addison, RNLI senior fund-raising manager, who has led the appeal said: "Over the past two years, I have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from the public. The majority of the fund-raising activity has taken place in the Midlands and it never ceases to amaze me that people who couldn't live further away from the coast have such a passion for the RNLI charity." One of the highlights of the appeal was a Birmingham By The Sea day, when the RNLI brought the beach to Brindley Place to raise awareness of the work of the charity and £6,000 towards the appeal. Other fund-raising activity included a Zip Wire at Fort Dunlop and a sponsored 186-mile trek along Pembrokeshire coastal path. The single most successful fund-raising activity was the Folly Farm Summer Ball, when Pembrokeshire supporters dined and danced the night away, before experiencing all the fun of fair, raising £11,000 towards the appeal. Ms Addison added: "The kind and most generous £1.6m donation really is the highlight of a fantastic two years of hard work. We are so very grateful the RNLI at Angle has been chosen as the beneficiary of this tremendous sum of money. The volunteer crew were thrilled to hear of this donation which will ensure they get a bigger lifeboat capable of reaching casualties faster, which will help them save more lives at sea." The new Tamar class is significantly faster and more manoeuvrable in heavy seas than the station's current Tyne class, The Lady Rank, but also safer and more comfortable for the crew. It can even carry up to 100 survivors. The majority of call-outs attended by the volunteer crew at Angle are to large commercial vessels more than 50 miles offshore and so can be very lengthy.