Bembridge Guild

 The Bembridge Guild is a very active organisation with a membership of over 100 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.    Guests of the Bembridge Coast Hotel have a weekly talk (Tuesday 4.30pm) and whenever possible accompanied tours of the Offshore boathouse are provided on Tuesdays & Saturdays (1.30pm) .  The Tuesday evening raffle at the hotel is currently on hold.   Opening times for the shop & the offshore boathouse are at the footer to each webpage.

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.

2022 Dates (subject to the Covid restrictions appertaining at the time):

19th to 27th February - half term opening 11am - 4pm

Sat 12th February - Coffee Morning - 10am to noon

9th to 24th April - Easter Opening 11am to 4pm

Sat 23rd April - Coffee morning - 10am to noon (£449.50 gross on a quiet morning in the village)

Wed 25th May - Guild AGM - 7pm for 7.30pm

28th May - 5th June - half term opening 11am - 4pm (Yellow Wellie Week 30th May to 5th June)

Thr 2nd June - Street Fair

25th June to 30th October - Summer opening 11am to 4pm

Sat 9th July - Coffee Morning - 10am to Noon - Bembridge Village Halll - (£438.35 raised in 2021 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 30th July - RNLI Flag Day for the Isle of Wight - (£606.00 raised in 2021 - morning only)

Sun 14th August - Station Open Day - 11am - 4pm (c£4,000 raised in 2021)

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

Guild 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.