16
NAVY NEWS, DECEMBER 1999
Helping Hands Navy's finest capsizes on debut THE NEWEST ship in
the Fleet helped a team from HQ British Forces Gibraltar raise £1,000 for a children's charity. A joint Service team, led by CPO(EW) Taff Sutton,
entered a charity 'boat race' with HMS Massive, a cardboard warship which was laid down in the George and Dragon Community
Centre
at
Europa Point, and commissioned by Mrs Kate Willmett, wife of Commodore Andrew Willmett, Commander British Forces Gibraltar.
The destroyer won first prize for being the bestdesigned boat, and the trophy was handed over by Miss Gibraltar.
The race itself posed problems, however, as a design flaw led to Massive capsizing on her maiden voyage because of stability problems.
The team has promised to bring in naval architects next year. • Maiden voyage - HMS Massive is accompanied by
the HQBF Gibraltar
Watch your step! Head for heights is vital in Clyde events A HEAD for heights proved vital as fund-raisers hurtled across the Clyde on a cable on a wet and windy day. The 'zip-line' ran from the top of Clydeport Ltd's 160ft Finneston
crane to the south bank of the river, providing the intrepid participants with an exhilarating 30-second 'flight'.
Organisers hope to raise around £25,000 for the city's Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. Under the watchful eye of HMS Smiter, the fast patrol
boat attached to Glasgow University Royal Naval Unit which acted as press launch for the event, 330 people threw themselves from the crane. Fund-raising co-ordinator Debbie Rae said: "Originally we asked Clydeport if we could use the crane just on the Saturday, but we were so overwhelmed with bids that we were able to extend it into Sunday as well. "We were handed about £10,000 on the day, and all the money raised will go towards the running costs of the hospice. "A few jumpers had an extra bit
team, including LS(R)s Brigham Young and Mark Gough (right of picture).
* « *i a'fe I
Pack it in - and coin it in
Commodore Angus Sandford said: "We were delighted to get involved
SUBMARINERS training at HMS Collingwood
in raising cash for such a worthy cause. "As well as gaining visibility for the RN via Director of Naval Recruitment's caravan, HMS Smiter's having to pass through Bell's Bridge meant the White Ensign was flying in the city centre for the first time in many years." • Descending from great heights appears to be gaining popularity in the Clyde area. When Sue Cox won a raffle prize for 12 people to abseil from the Sportsdrome in the Faslane Naval Base, she decided it would be a good opportunity to raise funds for the East Clyde Street Tiny Tots playgroup - and more than £650 was gathered, to be
helped with the shopping at a supermarket which helped a children's charity.
Two classes of Operator Mechanics (Submarines) spent the day at the Asda store in Fareham, raising £522.50 for the Rainbow Centre in the town - which helps children with cerebral palsy and similar disabilities by packing shopping for customers.
Sporting chance A FUND-RAISING session in the new fitness suite of HMS Excellent in Portsmouth raised £300 for the Special Olympics, allowing sportsmen, women and children with disabilities to train and compete in a range of Olympic sports.
Windfall aids fitness Sailors in HMS Illustrious are keeping in good shape thanks to a Windfall Millennium grant from the Sailors' Fund Fleet Amenities and Sports Fund - the cash was used to buy new
spent on new toys and equipment.
On the day, eight intrepid Helensburgh mums assembled on the roof of the multi-storey car park in the naval base along with the Commanding Officer of HMS
fitness equipment for the aircraft carrier.
Chiefs net school cash
Victorious, Cdr Richard Alien, and Sue's husband, CPO Barry
• Feet first - HMS Smiter appears to be trampled underfoot as a fund-raiser hurtles down the
zip-line across the Clyde.
Top-notch effort for top floor
NEED A BRILLS CRIMBO RABBIT ? Look no further than
Jackspeak ORDER FORM (photocopy acceptable)
To: Palamanando Press (Dept. CY), P.O. Box 42, Torpoint, Cornwall PL11 2YR
1. Please send one copy/............... copies of Jackspeak at £8.95 per copy (inc.P&P) to this address:
Pass GO and collect £3,700 - for Legion IT WAS third time lucky for a Naval officer in the Monopoly Live challenge. Having captained teams that came 8th and 2nd in the past two years, Lt John Scivier, an air traffic controller on exchange with the RAF in Germany, won the Royal British Legion event, beating 70 teams and bringing his teams' total to £3,700. With his RAF partner Nick Cooper, John ran around all the Monopoly sites in London, beating the previous record by well over 90 minutes.
of excitement by slowing down too soon after crossing the river, and had to be given a helpful pull from the team on the ground." Naval Regional Officer
Cox, also serving in the boat. The big drop was overseen by RN PTI Aidey Cole.
In Brief
MEMBERS belonging to the HMS Dorsetshire Survivors Association have presented a cheque for £36,000 to pay for the development of the top floor of the Devonport Royal Fleet Club. The refurbished floor will open on Easter Sunday next year. The association has already provided £58,000 to the club,
which paid most of the cost of installing a new lift, named the HMS Dorsetshire Lift.
And on Easter Sunday a further cheque for £5,200 will be presented for Alexandra House, the temporary home for Naval children - the eighth year this sum has been given, bringing the total to £41,600.
The chairman of the association, Bert Gollop, presented the cheque for the top floor work to Capt David Tall, Captain Base Personnel of HMS Drake in Devonport.
THE CHIEFS' Mess on board HMS Manchester raised £316 during their NATO Atlantic deployment last year, and a cheque was handed over to the Heathfield School in Fareham, which caters for
Party on worldwide NEWS of Naval tea parties and coffee mornings around the globe in support of charities continues to come in. Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland, currently deployed in the Caribbean as part of Atlantic patrol group, held a coffee morning in
aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief during a visit to Trinidad. The event was organised by Mrs Tessa
Harborne, wife of the British High Commissioner, as part of the World's Biggest Coffee Morning, and the ship raised £328. Meanwhile, RN air station Culdrose played
its part in the SSAFA Forces Help Big Brew-up. "More tea, vicar?" was the cry as the Rev
children with learning, physical and sensory impairments.
Team goes Dutch A DASH for Cash to Amsterdam provided
almost £1,200 for charity for an outlay of £50. The HMS Collingwood team - CC Steve Austin, CPO Taff Jones, PO Scottie Scot and Ms Vanessa Cheatham - were loaned a car by Hendy Ford of Cosham, and the South Devon Sports Association for the Disabled benefited by £1,175.
Car office turns green MEMBERS of staff in the HMS Drake office of Avis car rentals donned combat gear for Green Fun
Day, highlighting the company's commitment to the environment by planting more than 26,000 trees this year to offset the effects of exhaust emissions from their fleet.
Mike Brotherton hosted a
vicar's tea party, while Tesco's in Helston invited
RN Benevolent Trust cycle ride aids more than 5,000
Service personnel in to a tea
party to boost the total.
A SPONSORED cycle ride
across the battlefields from Dunkirk to the Somme next
summer will raise money for the
Friends
of
War
Memorials. Potential
participants
should ring 0207 259 0403, or fax 0207 259 0296.
MORE than 5,700 people, serving and retired, were helped by the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust last year to the tune of more than £2 million. Figures announced at the Trust's 77th annual meeting on board HMS
Warrior
in Portsmouth
showed that financial
grants
totalling £1.6 million were given in 4,600 cases, and a further £500,000
was made in regular payments to 1,111 elderly people to supplement their incomes. RNBT president Rear Admiral Anthony Norman thanked other organisations which work with the
Trust, in particular, casework carried out by SSAFA Forces Help, the Royal British Legion and the Naval
Personal and Families Service. Admiral Norman also said that
Name...........
the £2.5 million redevelopment of Pembroke House at Chatham, the
House/Road .
Trust's residential home, should be completed on time in March. Second Sea Lord Admiral Sir
Town.............................................................................
County...........................
Post Code...........................
2. Please ask the author to sign each copy (or delete if this extra service not required). 3. I enclose a cheque for £.............. (please add extra for postage outside UK & Europe, and ensure that payment is in sterling.) I also understand that £1 of this sum will go to Naval Charities. Signature.............................................
Date..
Registered Address; 11 Carew Estate, Torpoint. Cornwall. PL11 3EB
John Brigstocke spoke of the fact that the charity rightly draws no distinction between those serving and those who have served. He also talked of the voluntary deductions from pay scheme being introduced to the Navy, from
which the RNBT will be a major beneficiary. •
Hello, Jack - Endal the
labrador thanks the RNBT mascot for the new wheelchair
given to his master, ex-CPO Alien Parton.