VISITORS flocked to Newquay’s historic harbour to attend lifeboat day on Saturday.

Kernow Pipes and Drums led the parade through the town centre and finished in the harbour where the day’s activities begun.

The annual lifeboat day offered the public a chance to see how the charity’s lifeboats operate, with the crew running several demonstrations of lifesaving techniques throughout the day, which raised £5,000 for the charity that saves lives at sea.

Spectators were treated to ‘man overboard’ scenarios, showing the different techniques that the D class lifeboat deploys as well as a display from Towan Beach lifeguards who showed how they rescue an unconscious casualty in the water.

The volunteer shore crew rigged a net onto the Atlantic 85 trailer and the lifeboat crew were able to give a demonstration of how the lifeboat is recovered on a high tide.

RNLI Water Safety Team, Newquay Coastguard Search & Rescue and Newquay Community Fire Station crews were all on hand to deliver relevant safety messages and show visitors around their service vehicles and equipment.

The boat house was open with tea, coffee and home baking served up by the fundraising team whilst the shop volunteers had their busiest afternoon of the year so far. The usual bric-a-brac stall, Teddy Tombola, Face Painting, Play Your Cards right and Splat the Rat run by Rotary Club of Newquay were as popular as ever.

Gareth Horner, lifeboat operations manager, said: “We can’t thank everyone enough for coming along to Newquay RNLI lifeboat day.

“We’re always amazed by the fantastic community atmosphere and we’re so grateful to everyone who donated to support our 24-hour search and rescue service. A huge thank you to all the fantastic volunteers who ran stalls, collected donations, baked delicious cakes for our refreshments stall, and made the event such a success.

“And last but not least, I also want to thank our dedicated shore and boat crew who were there from the crack of dawn moving the boats out of the boathouse, washing down, building gazebos and arranging furniture.

“It really is a team effort and although donations are still being counted, the figure raised is heading towards £5,000. Every penny raised helps us to continue saving lives at sea and ensures that anyone in difficulty at the coast can get the help they need. On behalf of our entire crew and volunteers, thank you so much.”