Hope Cove Life Boat has received a boost to their funding from an author and Crabfest.

Hope Cove Life Boat, an independently-operated rescue service, were “thrilled” at a recent training session when they received an “extremely generous” cheque for £6,000 from Crabfest, presented by Peter Ralph, The Rotary Club vice president.

President of the Rotary Club of Salcombe, John Sampson, said: “Salcombe Crabfest 2018 raised over £10,000 for local charities.

“Now in its third year, the festival was bigger than ever, and is run by a dedicated team of volunteers from The Rotary Club of Salcombe, and was sponsored by Coast and Country Cottages, Favis of Salcombe, and The Salcombe Distillery Company.

“More than 5,000 people attended this unique event. We are delighted to present the donation of £6,000 to Hope Cove Life Boat.”

Receiving the cheque on behalf of the Hope Cove Life Boat, chairman Graham Phillips was clearly overjoyed with the huge amount.

He said: “We feel extremely flattered that The Rotary Club of Salcombe should choose us as their main recipient, and are truly grateful for all the hard work their members have put in to make this happen.

“As some of you may know, we are in the process of upgrading our launching facility, and this money will make a valuable inroad in to the overall cost. Thank you so much for thinking of us.”

Alongside that donation from Crabfest, nationally recognised author Cathy Bramley has helped the Life Boat.

The writer of several novels, her latest is based in Hope Cove. ’A Match Made in Devon’, is set in Brightside Cove, a fictitious name for Hope Cove, after Cathy came on holiday here and stayed in Inner Hope Square and really loved the place.

Cathy said: “Hope Cove was the inspiration for my new book, A Match Made in Devon, and I am delighted to be back with a finished copy to donate to Hope Cove Life Boat.”

She has donated a number of copies which will be sold at the Life Boat Stall at Hope Cove Weekend on August 25, 26, 27 August.