Charity golf tournament raises £14,650 for Kyle & Portree RNLI

Forty golfers turned out at the Isle of Skye Golf Club on the 26^th of December in glorious weather to help raise funds for Kyle & Portree lifeboat stations. Councillor Finlayson had arranged the tournament, gaining sponsorship from a variety of companies with links in our area. After the golf was finished, all the participants took advantage of the refreshments supplied before then hosting an auction and raffle of prizes donated.

On Monday, 19^th January, some of the crew from the 2 lifeboat stations as well as some of the sponsors representatives gathered in Kyle lifeboat station for the handover of the cheque from John Finlayson to the charity. The fantastic sum of £7325 was given to each lifeboat station, helping to fund the running of both stations over the coming year.

Andrew MacDonald, Helm at Kyle RNLI said: ‘We would like to thank John for arranging the fundraising event for the 2 local lifeboats stations. A great day was had by all, and the amount raised was fantastic, due to the generosity of the sponsors all those who donated auction & raffle prizes and those who bought raffle tickets’.

David Beaton, Chairperson of the Portree RNLI fundraising committee, said: ‘We are delighted to have received this substantial donation at the start of what is going to be a busy and important year of fundraising at Portree RNLI, particularly with the arrival of a new lifeboat in the spring. We are extremely grateful to John Finlayson, the competitors and all the sponsors of the event for their support and efforts in raising a brilliant total for both Portree and Kyle RNLI lifeboat stations’.

Councillor John Finlayson said: ‘Following the success of the recent Boxing Day golf tournament & festive fundraiser, I was delighted this week, to hand over a cheque for £14,650 to be split between the RNLI Lifeboat Stations in Portree and Kyle.

It was great to see so many of the generous sponsors who supported the event, attend the hand over at Kyle Lifeboat Station, and again I’d like to thank, Mowi, Shanks Plumbing, Balfour Beatty, JCM Plumbing, MacQueen Builders, Organic Sea Harvest, Kishorn Port, Ferguson Transport, Wickman Hotels, Campbell Stewart & MacLennan, Vonin and SSEN and the Isle of Skye Golf Club for their valued support.

I’d also like to thank all those who supported the fundraiser in so many other different ways and again the fantastic sum raised, shows the strength of west coast communities who clearly value the commitment made by so many volunteers across many organisations across all our communities’.

Notes to editors:

• A photo of the cheque handover and the participants of the tournament attached.
• Please credit the photos to John Finlayson

RNLI media contacts

Andrew MacDonald, Kyle of Lochalsh Lifeboat Press Officer on 07748 707606 or [email protected]

Richard Smith, Regional Communications Manager for Scotland on 07826 900639 or [email protected]

Martin Macnamara, Regional Communications Lead for Scotland on 07920 365929 or [email protected]

RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.

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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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