Julie launches her latest book at Whitstable RNLI

In a packed boathall the audience listened to a talk by the author on 'Murder at Mount Ephraim' the ninth book in the series and set on the real-life 800 acre estate of Mount Ephraim near Faversham, which features Whitstable private detective Pearl Nolan, who owns a seafood restaurant called The Whitstable Pearl and the Acorn TV series which stars Kerry Godliman as Pearl and Howard Charles as Canterbury police detective DCI McGuire. A second season of Whitstable Pearl was filmed this spring and will begin streaming later this year.

Said Julie “It was Kellie Gray, Chair of Fundraising at Whitstable RNLI who had first suggested I could use the lifeboat station as a venue for my event after she had contacted me almost a year ago to ask for help with gathering prizes for an exclusive fundraising raffle she was organising. I was happy to donate a collection of my books and to rustle up more donations, including from Acorn TV, the makers of the TV series based on my books Whitstable Pearl who kindly gave 10 prizes of a year’s free subscription to their streaming service. Local restaurants, jewellers, local shops and businesses all responded to requests for contributions with the result that £1,000 was raised in raffle ticket sales, a sum matched by Barclays Bank, which doubled the final total to £2,000”.

“I had always recognised this special evening to be a partnership and so I had also suggested to Kellie that a speaker from the RNLI should come along to explain about the important work the charity undertakes. RNLI Community Presenter, Gerry Skinner, duly arrived and gave an enlightening talk, clarifying how the RNLI is funded wholly by public donations, receiving no funds at all from the government, and explaining that the charity wishes to remain independent of the government so that it remains under no pressure to change the way it operates”.

Kellie Gray Whitstable RNLI Chair of Fundraising said “We are tremendously grateful to Julie for her efforts on our behalf, with her help with prizes for our exclusive raffle earlier and for agreeing to launch her latest book at the station. It made a very interesting and popular evening and something different to our regular events at the station. I am pleased to report that the evening made a further £500 for the station and once again many thanks to Julie for her support and to those who attended and helped out at the event”.

Notes to editors

Whitstable RNLI Lifeboat Station was established in 1963 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is one of 237 lifeboat stations around the shores of the UK and Ireland. The volunteer crews provide a maritime search and rescue service for the Kent coast. They cover the area between the Kingsferry Bridge on the Swale, in the west, around the south-eastern side of Sheppey and along the coast through Whitstable and Herne Bay to Reculver in the east and outwards into the Thames Estuary.

The station is equipped with an Atlantic 85 lifeboat named Lewisco, purchased through a bequest of a Miss Lewis of London who passed away in 2006.

She is what is known as a rigid inflatable inshore lifeboat, the boat’s rigid hull being topped by an inflatable sponson. She carries a crew of four people.

RNLI media contacts

• Chris Davey, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, Whitstable Lifeboat Station.
  07741 012004/ [email protected]

• Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer London/southeast/east Tel: 0207 6207416 Mob: (07785) 296252 [email protected]

• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.

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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.