Finish line for RNLI, thanks to our readers

Donations to the Christmas appeal and ‘money can’t buy’ auction, in collaboration with Harrogate’s Cicada PR, secured £17,000 towards the total cost of the Supacat.

Lifeboat operations manager John Senior has praised the “extraordinary support” which provided the missing piece of the puzzle and brought an end to the 18-month campaign to raise £200,000 for the launch and recovery equipment.

Contributions poured in after The Yorkshire Post launched the appeal in the countdown to the festive period.

Each week we featured stories of the charity’s life-saving work along Yorkshire’s coastline, detailing the great lengths to which its volunteers go to ensure everyone can enjoy the sea safely. Today’s announcement means that the Scarborough’s new £2m Shannon-class lifeboat is not left beached and can begin operating in 2016.

The Yorkshire Post editor Jeremy Clifford said: “The importance of the new Supacat cannot be underestimated, helping to save so many people who get into difficulties at sea every year. We set our readers a target to get the appeal over the line and we are delighted to see they did not let us down.”