Volunteers at St Agnes RNLI Lifeboat Station have received a cheque for over £18,000 from the Jaguars Enthusiast Club which has helped fund their new D class lifeboat.

Chairman Rob Jenner and Jaguar Enthusiasts member Letitia Mace took the 500 mile trip from Scotland to St Agnes to present the £18,250 to the station and volunteer crew. Following on from their £19,000 donation last year, the members of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club have now raised over £37,250 for the new inshore rescue boat that came to St Agnes Station last October.

Rob said: "I used to live in Shetland Islands and a lot of my friends worked on boats. I remember sitting in my house during a force ten gale, whilst the windows were being blown out and the garage roof was being blown off... and I would hear the maroons would go off and know that a bunch of trusted guys were going out on that lifeboat.

"I also remember as a boy in Birmingham being part of the nationwide ‘milk bottle top collecting’ campaign by children’s programme Blue Peter to raise money for the first ever lifeboat at St Agnes Station in the 1960s, and here I am all these years later, presenting the cheque for funds raised by fellow Jaguar owners to pay for the replacement for the Blue Peter Lifeboat."

The money for the new lifeboat was raised by a raffle within the club with the prize of a Jaguar XK up for grabs. Tickets were sold and once the cost of the car was deducted, all profits went to St Agnes RNLI new lifeboat appeal.

The new lifeboat, XKalibur replaces Blue Peter IV which had come to the end of her operational life. The lifeboat’s name has been chosen locally, with connections to both Cornwall and the Jaguar contribution. According to Cornish legend Dozmary Pool was the home of the Lady of the Lake and it is here King Arthur rowed out to her and received the sword Excalibur. A careful alternation to the spelling, and XKalibur was decided upon.

Chairman of St Agnes RNLI Lifeboat, Gerald Simmons said: "Each year the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club renovate a classic Jaguar car and raffle it nationwide, with the proceeds going to a charity of the chairman’s choice. Rob chose the RNLI and the St Agnes station appeal for a new boat as his choice and over £37,000 has been raised over two years helping us reach our target of £46,800 with ease.

"Our grateful thanks to the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club for their wonderful gift and amazing support in their efforts to provide the safest equipment to enable the lifeboat crew to save lives at sea."