You've pulled out all the stops for our Lifeboat Appeal, which has now raised over £100,000.

The Whitehaven News, Times & Star and RNLI are working together, supported by Sellafield, to raise £150,000 for the new all-weather lifeboat for the west coast.

Over £10,000 has poured into the appeal over the last four weeks alone as the RNLI gears up for The Dorothy May White, a Shannon class vessel, to be delivered to the Workington lifeboat station in April.

We launched the Lifeboat Appeal last June to find the final funding needed to make sure West Cumbria had the latest top-of-the-range boat to help those in trouble at sea.

The £2.1 million boat replaces the Sir John Fisher, which has been in service since 1992.

It has been out to sea for the first time off Poole in Dorset recently and will be officially launched in West Cumbria in June.

Serving the area from Drigg to Port Carlisle, the new boat has been named in honour of the woman whose legacy provided £1 million towards it.

The Sir John Fisher Foundation has also made a significant contribution.

Dozens of community groups are planning events for the appeal and several donations have already been pledged to help us hit the target.

Workington Lifeboat fundraisers held a Solway Supper event at Harrington
Sailing and Fishing Club last weekend and raised £608 for the Lifeboat Appeal.

There was a quiz and raffle, fish and chips were provided by Superfish, of Workington, and Colin Armstrong and John Hunter entertained the capacity crowd with poetry and Cumbrian dialect.

A painting of the Sir John Fisher by artist Ros White was officially presented to Workington crew and it will be sold via online auction site eBay for the appeal.

We still need your help! Every penny counts as we get closer to the end of the appeal and we still have £50,000 outstanding.

Tim Chittenden, operations manager for Workington RNLI, said: “These final couple of months are key for us to bring the Dorothy May White home.

“We are grateful to everyone who has held an event, attended an event or just put their hands in their pockets to help and would encourage everyone to help us in the final push.

“It’s a cliché to say we’re the fourth emergency service, but our lifeboat crew save lives and the RNLI keeps the west coast safe.”