LIFEBOAT volunteers are limbering up for their biggest annual fundraiser – the RNLI SOS Day.

Volunteers from across the country will be taking part in a variety of activities, including a gruelling 24-hour ‘rowathon’ at Poole Quay and a car wash at Swanage lifeboat station.

Poole RNLI crew members are scheduled to start their marathon row at 6pm this evening, finishing tomorrow to coincide with SOS Day.

Money raised will go towards kitting out the Poole crew with the latest state-of-the-art lifejackets.

Around £8,000 is needed to ensure every crew man has this vital piece of equipment.

Poole’s lifeboat coxswain Jonathan Clark said: “It is a big undertaking by the RNLI to replace and update all our lifejackets.

“As a volunteer who has the privileged to go to sea and wear one, I am heartened by the investment.

“The RNLI always provides the best equipment so that we can do our jobs securely and save lives at sea without putting ourselves at risk.”

Other events taking place on Friday’s SOS Day include Poole HSBC bank staff wearing silly shoes – as will pupils at Oakdale South Road Middle School.

The pupils will also be baking and selling cakes to boost the RNLI’s coffers.

Collections will be taking place at Poole’s Dolphin shopping centre and at Sainsbury’s Pitwines store all day.

Other fundraising events are set to take place throughout the weekend.

Poole, Swanage and Mude-ford lifeboat stations should take delivery of the lifejackets later this year.

Mr Clark said: “It is a far cry from the first lifejacket which was made of cork or even what my father and I wore when we first volunteered.

“It is an essential part of our kit and one of the most expensive. We don’t even have one for every member of the crew, we have just enough to crew each boat.”