Llandudno has a Lifeboat Shop!

Sorry that I haven't been around for a while but we have all been working so hard to get our new Lifeboat Shop up and running!

It actually opened at the beginning of November and, now that all our volunteers are trained up and the shop is running smoothly, we are having an Official Opening on 14th December 2011. The mayor of Llandudno will cut the ribbon at 11am and declare the shop officially open for business.

It is the only High Street RNLI shop in Wales (the others are all attached to their respective boathouses) so we are a bit of a flagship and we are determined to make it work! To be fair, even though we haven't got all our signs up yet, people are finding us and we are selling more than we had expected to already.

From left to right the picture shows me, Lyn and Jean all of whom are to be found in the shop on a regular basis!

In the shop we have sweets, biscuits, toys, Christmas cards, calendars, diaries and gifts, nautical gifts, key rings, fridge magnets, pens, notepads, address books, notecards, model ships of all sizes and a range of clothes from caps to sweat shirts. That gives you a flavour of what you will find in the shop but there are other bits and pieces too and we are always getting new stock.

The address of the shop is 9, St George's Place, Llandudno and we are open every day apart from Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

So, if you are in Llandudno at any time, do drop in and see us and, of course, tell all your friends about us!

I've played with Zoobles!

Not long after joining http://www.blog-match.com/ the postman brought me a surprise parcel which contained some Zoobles from Spinmaster which we could play with and then review.

The ones that I received were called Unga and Bunga although I understand that there are about 300 for you to collect – an excellent marketing idea!

Unga and Bunga are a ‘mama and zoobling’ which is the name for a Zooble baby and they came complete with what they call a Hapitat which, in this case, is a tree with a swing.

The Zoobles themselves are like little balls and when we placed mama on the Hapitat she popped open (courtesy of a hidden magnet) to reveal the Zoobling.

The ones that I had were very pretty, colourful and quite girly so, unless some of the others are more ‘boy orientated’ I would suggest that these would appeal to girls more so than boys.

They are available from major stores and online sites such as Amazon, Toys R Us and Tesco’s and the single ones start from £6 - £10 but there are multiple packs and other Hapitats available too.

Our Last day on the Prom in Llandudno!

Sunday 25th September 2011 will see the RNLI stall on the prom at Llandudno selling lifeboat souvenirs for the very last time - well as a full stall anyway! We will still have a smaller stall each year in August on our Emergency Services Day.

This Sunday would have been our last day this season anyway - even we aren't daft enough to stand out in the winter - but there is a reason why we won't be back next year.

We are getting a shop in town! It isn't ready yet but we should be trading by the end of October so if you have a few hours to spare and you would like to volunteer to help in the shop just let me know and I will point you in the right direction.

I will let you know all the details of the new shop once it is ready to open but in the meantime, if you want to see us in Llandudno, you'd better get a move on down to the prom on Sunday 25th!

Llandudno Lifeboat Week!

Here in Llandudno the week from 1st to the 7th August is Lifeboat Week. We don't normally have an actual Lifeboat Week but this year we are celebrating 150 years of having a lifeboat here on site.

During the week we will be getting support from a shop in town called Clare's situated in Mostyn Street. They will have one of their windows dressed with historical RNLI items and we will be selling souvenirs in the arcade outside their shop all week. Their staff are even dressing up as pirates, mermaids and sailors at the weekend to add to the general nautical theme!

The 7th August is Emergency Services Day and there will be stalls on the prom representing many of our emergency services including the fire brigade, mountain rescue, police, rescue dogs and ambulance - of course the RNLI stall will be there selling souvenirs too.

In the morning the crew are organising games on the prom and in the afternoon the All Weather Lifeboat - The Andy Pearce - will launch at about 4pm to perform a rescue exercise accompanied by the helicopter from RAF Valley (providing it isn't otherwise engaged on a shout). Believe me this is a sight worth seeing!

Mew - the RNLI Fundraising Cat!

A while ago I introduced you to our cat Mew and I told you that he is Mr February on the 2011 RNLI calendar.

Earlier this year we had a request for more cat pictures for the 2012 calendar and I sent in a few of Mew  hut heard nothing so I assumed his fame was to be short lived.

We have now received our Christmas cards and calendars to sell on the stall and guess what? Now if you can't guess what I am going to say next you really aren't concentrating are you? LOL!

Yes - that's right - he's there again! This time he's Mr June with a cropped version of the above photograph.

So he is officially a fund raising cat! We sell souvenirs from a stall on the prom every Sunday here in Llandudno and I proudly show people the picture and say - that's my cat!!

RNLI Sblash Llandudno Sea Swim

I am pleased to report that the choir concert last weekend was a great success and about £500 was raised for the RNLI overall.

On Saturday 18th June 2011 there is an altogether different event - again run by the RNLI - and this time it is a sea swim in Llandudno Bay. This beach has Blue Flag status so the water is clean and safe to swim in!

Swimmers can do one lap of the course which is 750m or two laps for 1,500m at the same time familiarising themselves with the swimming course for the Triathlon which will take place here next month.

The race will start at 11am and entrants are encouraged to raise money for the RNLI through sponsorship.

More details can be found at http://www.xtramileevents.com/events/calendar/rnli-llandudno-sea-swim

Of course the RNLI stall selling souvenirs will be on the prom on Sunday so you can treat yourself and help the lifeboats at the same time - see you there!

Don't Feed the Seagulls - They'll Help Themselves!

As you will have realised from my writings Llandudno is a lovely place to live or just to visit with our beautiful beaches and many sights to see.

BUT there is a problem here - you may well get mugged - especially if are carrying food!

The muggers in question are gulls but, don't panic, they can be avoided by taking a few simple precautions.

Don't walk along the prom with food in your outstretched hand that's just asking for trouble. The gulls will swoop down over your head and take it right out of your hand - I know from experience! If you have an ice cream or a sandwich hold it near to your body. This makes it very difficult for the gull to swoop.

If you are eating fish and chips or a picnic sit somewhere such as one of the shelters along the prom or sit under trees - anywhere that makes it difficult for the gulls to swoop.

It is also worth mentioning that these birds are big and can be very frightening if they swoop on small children.

At the weekend my sister and brother in law were here and after a walk we stopped for a drink sitting outside a local pub. The tables where people had been eating were not cleared quickly and this was the result. All credit to my sister, Helen, for the excellent photographs by the way!

There are signs around the town reminding you not to feed the seagulls but as you can see you don't have to feed them - they will help themselves!

As I say just be aware that they have grown to associate people with food and will attempt to steal it from you if you don't take care. When we are working on the prom on Sundays we often see people having their chips stolen!

Be warned but don't be too scared just take precautions and you will be fine!