With Easter not far away, a keen yachtswoman has swapped sails for knitting needles in aid of the RNLI.

Pip Rowntree, of Bridge
Close in Burniston, has raised more than £100 for Scarborough RNLI by making
and selling orange woollen Easter chickens.

She wraps them around a
chocolate cream egg, places a little ribbon around their necks and sells
them for £2 at the yacht club. The proceeds go to the RNLI.

Pip, an occupational therapist based
at Scarborough Hospital, was inspired to raise money for the lifeboat
after a friend was rescued by the RNLI.

Roger Buxton nearly died when he was washed overboard in heavy seas while sailing his yacht Shameless from Whitby to Scarborough in May 2011. Roger was rescued by the lifeboat and taken to hospital by helicopter.

The close shave prompted Pip to
organise a games night with a promises auction and a raffle which raised
over £1,000, in July 2011.

Her next fundraising endeavour for the RNLI
will be a sunflower competition in the summer.

(Picture: Pip Rowntree knitting her Easter chicks. Credit RNLI/Dave Barry)