A YEAR’S worth of avid fundraising has seen just over £13,000 donated to a life saving public service.

In 2017 the Loughton and Woodford fundraising wing of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) installed collection pots in supermarkets, shook tins at antique fairs and encouraged individuals to donate.

Thanks in part to two particularly generous stand-alone donations of £750 and £500, £13,079.92 was raised.

That money will help to keep lifeboat crews and beach life guards working across the country. 

Michael Evans, a retired lawyer based in Loughton, has been involved with the charity since 1977 and has a life-long fascination with the RNLI.

He said: “It is something I have been interested in since I was a child.

“The lifeboat service is entirely funded by voluntary contributions. Without those there is no life saving service at all.

“We wish to thank all those whose donations helped raise such an excellent sum.

“As the Branch enters its 42nd year of fundraising we are sure the public will continue its generous support of those who put their own lives at risk to go to the aid of ‘those in peril’.”

The money raised could be spent on lifeboats covering the Thames, which are based below Waterloo Bridge.