Welcome to Woodbridge Branch of the RNLI

The Woodbridge branch of the RNLI is one of the 1,300 fundraising branches and guilds throughout the country. Our objective is to raise money for the RNLI to support our brave volunteer crews to help them save lives at sea.

As a branch, our main aim is to identify fund raising opportunities and arrange events, store collections, flag days, card sales, etc.

We can’t achieve this without the help of our fundraising “Crew”. You can join our “Crew” by volunteering to be Collectors, Helpers, or Committee Members. Please contact our Branch Secretary to find out more.

Upcoming events

Events October through to December

Here are some of the events planned this period:

Gift in Will Event, Ravenwood Hall, Roughham, 22nd October

Charity Card Shop, Gobbits Yard, Woodbridge, 18th October to 13th December

RNLI Autumn Fair, Levington Marina, 26th October

Tesco Collection at Martlesham Heath, 15th November

Christmas Street Fair, Thoroughfare, Woodbridge, 7th December

Recent Events

Tesco Store Collection, Martlesham Heath, 15th November

A huge thank you to Tesco for their support and allowing us to have a collection at their store in Martlesham Heath where we raised a record £1,122.74 for the RNLI Thank you to everyone who generously donated and to our loyal team of volunteers. Thank you!

RNLI Autumn Fair, Levington, 28th October

A massive thank you to HPYC for their generosity and warm welcome. It was great to catch up with Adrian and the RNLI Harwich crew, who do such a brilliant job! We are delighted to share that we raised £822.50 in sales and £25 in donations for the RNLI – thank you for your support!

Fish & chip supper and Quiz, 18th October

Thank you to Anne, our excellent quizmaster, for a fun and challenging evening. We had a really good turn out – all tables taken – and raised over £540 for the RNLI.

There’s talk of arranging another quiz in Spring 2026 – watch this space!

Lifeboat Day in Woodbridge, 11th October

Thank you to everyone who so generously donated on our Lieboat Day, thrilled to share we raised £906.39 for the @rnli

Thanks to our volunteers and also to Karen from Stitchworks who made the fantastic replica life jacket! The colourised photograph is of Henry Freeman, a lifeboatman from Whitby, who was the sole survivor of the 1861 Whitby lifeboat disaster.

Martlesham Heath Aviation Society Control Tower Museum, 7 September

We had a fantastic time at the Martlesham Heath Aviation Society’s showcase event, with outstanding music from @thethreechordettes who stopped by to say hello. Delighted to share we raised £204.09 for the @rnli

Elmfest, 6th September

A brilliant day at @elmsfest and thanks to Tanya and her fantastic team for organising another great event. Pleased to share we took £200.83 for the @rnli – thank you to everyone who bought, donated and shared their stories with us.

Walberswick Village Fete, 23rd August

Thank you to everyone who generously supported us at Walberswick.Village.Fete today, thrilled to share that we raised £393.05 for the RNLI – and met so many lovely people (and their dogs!)

Gipping Valley Model Boat Club Open Day, 16th August

What a fantastic time we had at the Gipping Valley Model Boat Club’s Open Day! Thank you for having us and thanks to those who kindly donated – delighted to say we took £212.95 in sales and just under £40 in donations for the RNLI

Some amazing craftsmanship and it was well worth a visit!

Woodbridge Flag Day, 9th August

We were blessed with a wonderful warm day for our annual RNLI Flag Day in the Thoroughfare and the total raised from our lovely supporters was an awesome £900.53.

Thanks to our small band of collectors and to all those who donated. Special thanks to the two magpies bakery for keeping us hydrated!

#rnli #rnliflagday #fundraising #woodbridgesuffolk #twomagpiesbakery

Woodbridge Regatta, 29th June

Thank you to everyone who visited us at Woodbridge Regatta & Riverside Fair today, it was a hot one! Delighted to share that we raised £550 for the @rnli and thank you to our trusty team of volunteers!

Westleton Open Garden, 15 June

Our huge thanks to the Turner family for generously opening up their wonderful garden for the RNLI, and thank you to everyone who attended and donated. We are delighted to share that we raised £2,262 for the RNLI, along with our friends from the Stowmarket branch – and had a brilliant day!

Suffolk Show, 28/29th May

Another great couple of days at the Suffolk Show. The rain on Wednesday and strong winds on Thursday didn’t put us off and overall the show was a great success.

Many thanks to Liam and Arna from the RNLI Water Safety team for joining us for this event. All the kids appreciated their knowledge and sense of fun.

Many thanks to our loyal band of helpers who helped to set up and take down and run the stand over the 2 days. We couldn’t do it without them.

And a final big thanks to all the people who visited our stand and helped us raise a total of £830 (beating last year’s record) over the days.

Tesco Collection, 7th March

A huge thank you to @tescofood for having us at their store in Martlesham where we raised a whopping £984.42 for the @rnli! Thank you to everyone who generously donated and to our team of volunteers. Thank you!

Branch AGM, 11th March

Our branch AGM was held at the Old Mariner in Woodbridge where we elected the officers and committee for the coming year. We went through our programme of fundraising events for 2025. The year ahead will be challenging one but fun. Our first major event will be the Suffolk Show at the end of May.

We would love to welcome anyone who is interested in joining our small committee and anyone who can spare an hour or two occasionally to help with our fund raising activities.