The people of Tenby and our visitors gave a total of £2,879.73 in Flag Week, which ran from July 27 to August 1 (writes Doreen L. Mortimer, flag secretary of the Tenby RNLI Fundraising Branch). With the addition of £219.20, the sale of goods from the stall in Tudor Square on the Saturday, we took a total of £3,098.93, a staggering amount.

Sainsbury's very generously allowed us to collect outside their store during the whole of Flag Week and the boxes here brought in a very high total of £1,226.13, the largest amount we have ever taken at this venue. Our thanks go to Mr. Paul Baldwin for letting us collect for the week. Our thanks also go to his staff for making us welcome and to his customers for their generosity.

Ruth and Matt Goldwait made us welcome on Flag Day at the Mini Mart in New Hedges and we collected a total of £289.02 here. Jane Brace Squibbs collected £146.33 in the morning and Siriol Roberts had £142.69 put in her box in the afternoon.

The Abbot of Caldey gave us permission to collect on the island and in spite of bad weather which meant that we missed four days there, we had £907.98 in our buckets. This was also an increase on last year, an amazing result. We would like to thank all the islanders for making us welcome, the Abbot, Father Daniel van Santvoort, Ben Childs and last, but not least, Suzanne Bolton, who kept all our gear for us. We do not forget their generous visitors.

Without the boatman, who take us across free of charge, we wouldn't get to the island - we really appreciate them doing this for us. They do it at their expense.

The individual box collections, on Flag Day, August 1, were as follows: Mrs. Alison Francis £24.01; Mr. Mark Francis £19.03; Mrs. Sue James £76.58; Miss Doreen Mortimer £53.92 and Mr. David Williams £203.29. Norah and Arthur Squibbs ran the stall in Tudor Square, along with other helpers. The box on the stall contained £79.77 and, as mentioned earlier, the sale of goods came to £219.20.

We are dependent on our many volunteers who give their time to collect outside Sainsbury's and who go to the island whenever weather permits - they are all very dedicated and are greatly appreciated by the Tenby Fundraising Committee. Thanks should go to Janet Thomas and Chris Moore who did a lot of the initial organising in the absence of the flag secretary who had the temerity to go go the United States for two months prior to Flag Week!

Our lifeboat men and women and the lifeguards on our beaches, who are dedicated to saving lives, really appreciate the support they receive from the public.