I am pleased to announce that we have finally got a Lifeboat shop here in Llandudno (in St George's Place to be exact) - hurrah! We are currently in the process of getting everything set up to open on Thursday afternoon 27th October 2011. We will then open for a few hours a day until we all get up to speed with the scanner till, credit card machine etc. and then we will have a grand opening in December once any problems are ironed out.

As part of setting up the shop we have all the items such as a counter, shelves, till etc but we also needed a kettle, mugs, tea, coffee and such like. We'll each be doing four hour shifts so we'll need a cuppa at some point.

To be as economical as possible we have purchased an Asda Smart Price White Kettle KE 7519 which cost the staggeringly high (?) sum of £4.99!

The kettle comes in a basic green and white cardboard box with the green Asda logo and black Smart Price logo on it. There are two little boxes on the front giving the following information: 'boil dry safety cut off' and '1.5 litre capacity'.

Inside the box is the kettle complete with the base upon which it stands - this has the plug already attached. There are also a set of instructions.

The kettle itself is white (being a 'White Kettle' it would be wouldn't it?) and has a simple, clean looking design with a curved, easy to grip handle.

Before using the kettle you are advised to fill it with water, boil it and empty it a couple of times to remove any residue for the manufacturing process and make sure that it is nice and clean.

The kettle itself has a lift up lid through which you fill it with water and spout through which you pour it back out again! There is a red tab type switch on the bottom of the handle and you just push this down to start the kettle heating the water within. When the kettle is on you will be able to see a light where the water gauge is.

There is a water gauge on the side so that you can see how much water is in the kettle and thus you won't need to boil any more than you need. You can even boil just one cup if that is all you need. The gauge is graduated in cups and litres with the maximum 1.5 litres equating to 7 cups.

The kettle sits on the base to boil and when lifted off it is cordless so there is less risk of accidents especially if there are children about! In fact any spare cord can be wound and stored underneath the base out of the way. Boiling water, trailing wires and young children have never been a good mix!

We have given the kettle a good trial and it boils very quickly and makes our tea and coffee just when we want it. There is a boil dry safety cut off so that we can't forget it and let it boil dry and cause any problems.

OK this kettle isn't the most beautiful one that I have ever seen and it certainly isn't posh but then you get what you pay for. In our situation where it was paid for by the charity as part of the set up costs of the shop we wanted the cheapest kettle that would do the job properly and that is exactly what we have got.

I would definitely recommend this kettle for somewhere where aesthetics aren't important such as the caravan, student digs, shop kitchen etc. It is smart enough, don't get me wrong, but I would want something a bit better quality in my kitchen at home.

So there you are a kettle which does exactly what it says on the box - a Smart Price White Kettle! It will keep us volunteers happy with our cups of tea and coffee anyway!

PS I have had to fill in the picture and sound quality to submit this review but do please ignore them as we do not receive TV on this kettle! LOL!