THE chairman of Cornwall Council Mrs Pat Harvey formally announced that she is adopting the RNLI as her official charity during her period of office at a special awards ceremony held at County Hall last Thursday.

As part of their long-term fundraising drive to raise money for the charity, the council's staff and members also pledged to support the RNLI's annual fundraising SOS Day on Friday, January 29.

The ceremony involved the presentation of awards to the representatives from the seven lifeguard areas in Cornwall to mark the commitment and professionalism of RNLI lifeguards in the county, including to Mini Fry, RNLI Area Lifeguard Supervisor for Bude.

Mrs Harvey said: "During the seven days from Saturday, August 1 to Friday, August 7, RNLI lifeguards saved the lives of 23 people and rescued or assisted a further 458 individuals. The afternoon of Wednesday, August 5 was particularly challenging — with the lifeguards saving nine lives and helping 222 people in what was the busiest ever day for RNLI lifeguards in Cornwall.

"I am honoured to have been asked to present awards to these brave and dedicated people and I am delighted to be able to support this charity by adopting it as my official charity."

As well as presenting the awards, Mrs Harvey also presented a Letter of Thanks from the RNLI's Chief of Operations, Michael Vlasto to Greg Spray, RNLI's Divisional Lifeguard Manager for Cornwall.

With a staff led conga around County Hall as one of the first fundraising events planned at Christmas, the council's staff and members have also pledged to support the RNLI's SOS Day.

Dave Nicoll, RNLI Area Fundraising Manager, for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly said: "The RNLI has 14 lifeboat stations in Cornwall and it's lifeguards patrol 57 of the county's beaches during the summer. As a charity we are extremely lucky to have the support of local residents and we are delighted to now also have the support of the newly formed council.

"SOS Day is the RNLI biggest fundraising day with events based on the SOS acronym happening all over the country. There are so many ways that people can get involved with SOS Day and show their support for the RNLI. Now is the perfect time to start thinking about how you can show your support and get involved on SOS Day too."

For a free information pack containing fundraising ideas and full details of RNLI SOS Day, log on to http://www.rnli.org.uk/sos">www.rnli.org.uk/sos or call 0845 1214999.