This is Haslemere met Frances Reincke who is Chairman of The Haslemere and Hindhead RNLI branch to hear more about their activities and fundraising locally. We’d hardly taken a sip of our freshly brewed coffee in Frances’ kitchen when she cast her story telling rod and reeled us in…

Frances told us she was brought up on boats and loves sailing. At the age of 21, she herself was saved by the RNLI as a participant in the 1979 Fastnet Race. The race was hit by a worse than forecast storm. Such was its severity that, had it been forecast, the race would have been cancelled. 300 yachts were caught in The Irish Sea; there were 21 fatalities and 22 yachts were wrecked. With her brother and six others, Frances’ boat Autonomy was towed in by an Irish lifeboat that was part of the RNLI. The race became a tragedy that reshaped safety at sea. In this RYA podcast and witness account compered by Dee Caffari -  The Storm that Changed Sailing - Fastnet '79 - Frances shares a panel with a lifeboat crew member on duty that night, a meteorological expert and an RYA safety director. It’s an extraordinary listen. In addition, Frances (maiden name Power) and her brother have written an account of their rescue here.

Frances has always supported the RNLI financially. Living in London in her 20s, she volunteered for the RNLI, regularly attending meetings after work. When she moved to Haslemere in 2010 from Switzerland, she met a collector outside Waitrose, met the local branch chair and began volunteering here. Frances told us, “I get huge satisfaction volunteering. I help raise funds for a cause that is close to my heart and we have fun working as a team.”

The local Haslemere and Hindhead branch has a small committee where everyone has an affinity with the sea. It has three core functions:

1) Fundraising. The committee organises fundraising events. For over 30 years there has been an annual Bridge and Tea in Fernhurst Village Hall. There is an annual croquet tournament across eight lawns and the eight winners play in a final. There is usually a November fun event such as a quiz, race night or ceilidh. On the 15th May 2026, their first tennis tournament will take place. They also arrange supermarket collections locally. On average this small but effective team raises approximately £10,000 a year locally.

2) Raising awareness. The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea through 24/7 lifeboat search and rescue, seasonal lifeguarding on over 240 beaches, and safety education. Founded in 1824, it is powered by 95% volunteers and donations, operating 445 lifeboats and providing aid without judgment. Frances gives talks and organised an exhibition in Haslemere Museum in 2024. On display, were stories of seven locals who had all been rescued by the RNLI.

3) Schools and community outreach. Frances was proud to share that not all RNLI branches have this strand to their work. For the past 2 years, a volunteer, Claire Gratton, has been going into schools, youth groups, scouting and guiding organisations to deliver workshops. These centre on how not to drown, how to behave on the beach and how to be safe in the water. “Claire’s workshops are amazing,” said Frances. “They are interactive and the children dress up as swimmers, fishermen, sailors, RNLI crew etc. The youngsters love it, learning in a fun and visual way.”

Volunteer for The Haslemere and Hindhead RNLI

Frances shared with This is Haslemere that she is keen for more volunteers to get involved, ideally with an affinity to this lifeboat charity, to assist in different areas:

a) Social media and marketing. RNLI seeks help with advertising events, keeping Facebook current, creating graphics, posters, fliers, sending out mailings.

b) Help at fundraising events. This includes an annual Bridge Tea in Fernhurst Village Hall, a Croquet Tournament, a November fun event (generally a quiz or race night or ceilidh), a Tennis Tournament.

c) Street collections in Haslemere, Hindhead and Grayshott.

d) Join the committee.

We really enjoyed meeting Frances. She is clearly someone who is always putting her hand up to help in and around the Haslemere community. As well as RNLI, she is involved with her local church. You may remember her fundraising flower exhibition or The Link Project last year at St. Christopher’s Church which was a stunning blast of colour and artistry. She is a contributor to the parish magazine. She assists in the museum library on a Tuesday. We are certainly looking forward to keeping in touch with her and sharing more news of her various projects in the future …

Contact them haslemerernli@gmail.com to find out how you might get involved.