Town’s RNLI branch finally calls it a day

The 75 year-old branch has folded due to a lack of committee members.

Branch secretary Jane Bealby said most young people were too busy balancing the pressures of work and raising families to donate time to charity work.

Said Jane: “Fundraising is going through a different stage now. They want people jumping out of aeroplanes and doing massive events - they are after big, corporate money.

“The people I feel I am letting down are the lifeboat men who put their lives on the line - they are mostly volunteers.

“But I will miss the camaraderie of the committee.”

Jane, of King’s Clipstone, has been on the committee since 1972. She estimates the Mansfield branch has raised about £250,000 since it was first established.

And, though Mansfield is some 70 miles from the coast, Jane said the sea had been a big part of life in the area - with folk holidaying in east coast resorts such as Skegness and Mablethorpe.

“Miners also had a tradition of deep of fishing,” said Jane. “But now most people probably go abroad.

“Now I have a rather large birthday coming up so I want to slow down - I would have kept going if there had been a bit more support.”