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The charity, which saves lives at sea has today (14 May 2007) revealed its ambitious plans to bring the seaside to the city as part of its continued efforts to raise awareness of sea safety in inland communities whilst raising vital funds towards a new RNLI lifeboat for Pembrokeshire, west Wales.

On June 16, the RNLI will host Birmingham By The Sea at Brindleyplace. The pedestrianised area which is more than 100 miles from the coast will be transformed into a seaside resort, complete with a giant sandpit, donkeys, deckchairs and Punch and Judy shows. Families will be able to chat with operational RNLI lifeguards and witness scale model lifeboat demonstrations on the canal followed by an opportunity to see an inshore RNLI lifeboat displaying its capabilities on the water.

The Newfoundland water rescue dogs team will be delighting visitors with their skills and the RNLI’s mascot ‘Stormy Stan’ is looking forward to meeting and greeting locals. Radio BMRM have pledged their support and will playing music from the event on the day. Seaside cut-outs, remote control model lifeboats for visiting children to try will complete the seaside theme.

The event will be the culmination of a week-long fundraising drive which will be centered around the city between 11 – 16 June. Birmingham Lifeboat Week will see collectors out in great numbers calling on inland folk to dig deep and show their support for the charity.

All funds raised will go towards The Birmingham and West Midlands £1M Tamar Lifeboat for Angle, Pembrokeshire appeal, which was launched in the city in January this year to raise £1M towards the £2.5M total for the state-of-the-art lifeboat. The new lifeboat will enable the volunteer lifeboat crew to save even more lives at sea
 
June Addison, RNLI Senior Area Fundrasing Manager in the West Midlands says:

‘Birmingham Lifeboat Week has been running for many years and has always been a great success. This year we are introducing Birmingham By The Sea at Brindleyplace in support of the appeal, which is a whole new concept the RNLI is incredibly excited about. We would not have been able to bring our plans off the drawing board without Brindleyplace Events Management Team who have been incredibly supportive.

'June 16 should be a fantastic day and an excellent opportunity for people living inland to find out more about the work of our brave volunteers who go to sea at a moments notice to help people in difficulty.’ 

For further information about the Angle appeal visit www.tamar4angle.org.uk or contact June Addison on 07920 087538.