Bembridge Guild

The Bembridge Guild is a very active organisation with a membership of over 130 members. In addition to carrying out fundraising activities and looking after the RNLI shop based in the new Inshore Lifeboat Station, Guild members also provide "visitor" cover for the Offshore Boathouse and guides for the numerous school & youth group visits each year. Weekly talks & accompanied visits to the Offshore boathouse are provided for guests of the Bembridge Coast Hotel, where there is also a weekly raffle. Opening times for the shop & the offshore boathouse are at the footer to each webpage.

The Guild meets monthly on the first Monday of each month at 14:30 in the Bembridge Methodist Church Hall.

New members are always welcome; contact any of the Committee members shown below who will be delighted to tell you more about the Guild and how to join. There is a minimal annual subscription of £2.00.

Regular Coffee mornings are held in the Bembridge Village Hall - see dates below. Do come and join us from 10:00 onwards (finishes at 12:00).

Crew & Guild socials are run at least twice a year.

2021 Dates (subject to the Government’s roadmap proceeding on time and any restrictions in place at the time):

Mon 12th April - RNLI shop reopens 2pm - 4pm every day (11am - 4pm over half-term 29th May - 6th June)

Mon 21st June - RNLI shop opening 11am - 4pm every day until 31st October

Sat 24th July - Coffee Morning - 10am to Noon - Bembridge Village Halll - £438.35 (on not a very nice day)

Mon 26th July - Offshore Boathouse reopens 13:30 - 16:00 daily (limited numbers and last entry by 15:35)

Sat 31st July - RNLI Flag Day for the Isle of Wight - £606.00 raised (morning only)

Mon 2nd August - Guild monthly meetings resume, 2pm for a 2.30pm stat at the Methodist Church Hall. Thence the first Monday of every month.

Sat 14th August - Station Open Day - 11am - 4pm. c£4,000 raised

Sat 18th September - Coffee Morning - 10am to Noon - Bembridge Village Hall £633.00 raised

Sat 27th November - Coffee Morning - 10am to Noon - Bembridge Village Hall

Thr 11th December - Christmas Carols in the Inshore Boathouse - 6.30pm (NB: date tbc)

Key Committee members are as follows:

Chairman - John Gulliver (01983 873248) - bemguildadmin@btinternet.com

Vice-Chairman - Noel Stimson (01983 874204)

Hon Secretary - Lesley Gulliver (01983 873248) - bemguildadmin@btinternet.com

Hon Treasurer - Tim Woodcock (01983 872519)

Volunteer Shop Manager - Di Hawes (01983 875296)

School & Youth Visits, & Education - Deborah Meadows (01983 874408)

Box Secretary - Sandra Beaney

Membership Sec (& Flag Day Co-ordinator) - Chris Grant

Warners Raffle Coordinator - Pam Young

Boathouse Rota Coordinator - Deborah Meadows

Coffee Morning Coordinators - Sheila Sowerbutts & Trish Beckett

Press Officer - Ken Orchard (01983 873139)

Open Day 2021 (Saturday 14th August) - by John Gulliver

What a fabulous day we had on Saturday with so many members of the public attending our Open Day. We could not squeeze any more cars into the car parks and on the green, and I dread to think what the roads in the village were like.

We had a crowd of crew and Guild arrive to set up at 8am and people were starting to arrive an hour before start time. We were Covid safe which meant that we had to limit numbers in the shop to one ‘bubble’ and just a few at a time in the boathouse. In spite of this we had 450+ visitors to the boathouse during the day and the shop sales speak for themselves. So many of you came to volunteer so that we were fully staffed from start to finish.

The water safety and education teams had many meaningful engagements with boys and girls, big and small to pass on the water safety message which was emphasised by the two lifeboat demonstrations to rescue paddleboarders who got into trouble. There was a huge round of applause after each, so they were much appreciated by the spectators. The Face to Face team were happy that they were able to sell 12 RNLI memberships.

Receipts for the day were £3,898 which is a fabulous result, and we have to add to this total, donations via our ‘Just Giving’ site, the contactless donation machine in the shop, and another donation of £30 which I have received in retrospect.

So I think we can not be far short of £4,000. Refreshments were very busy and although part of their takings included donations it is still an awful lot of tea and sandwiches/cakes! Thanks to everybody who provided these, there was a mountain of them and there was very little left at the end of the day.

Our credit/debit card contactless machine which was based in the tea tent was invaluable as £509 was taken on it during the day. It is the way ahead and we would not have had the same takings without it. I was a bit worried at first as there was no wifi or telephone signal, so sales were stored within the unit which I had not done before. All was well however and I uploaded around 65 transactions when I got home at the end of the day.

A very big thank you to everyone who contributed to the day in any capacity, whatever you did made the event such a success. We had a lot of smiling faces, and thanks from the public who had enjoyed their day.

For my part, my smart watch told me that I walked 15 kilometres during the day which probably accounts for the fact that I keep wanting to doze off whenever I sit down.

So we are now back to the busy day to day activities in the shop and boathouse and our next event will be our coffee morning on Sat 18 Sep.