DON'T join the panicked herd of stampeding investors.

That, decided members of RICH - Ridings investment Club Holdings, was the best contribution they could make in the wake of the New York and Washington bombings.

"We're an investment club - and whatever the circumstances we are going to invest," said chairman Jim Porteous. "It is our small gesture to a shocking time in which the well-being of the world is of greater account than the speculation of profit and loss."

The decision to harden all their liquidity was taken as a "step into the dark", all the more laudable given that the value of the RICH unit just before the horror had dropped from £2.64 to £2.49.

The only consolation was that it represented 5.6 per cent shaved off worth compared with the 6.1 per cent wiped off the FTSE index over the same period, so that the boast that RICH was consistently doing better than the stock market still held good, even if it was cold comfort.

So what did they do with their money? There was already a lot of it sloshing around from last month, when the club's "stop loss" system automatically triggered sales to maintain modest profits.

At the time this band of present and former managers at Nestle Rowntree agreed to invest only half the money while maintaining a "wait and see" vigil on the market. This time they committed all of it, including the new subscription receipts.

A third of the total was used to snap up the severely shrunken Marconi shares which, at 29p, were reckoned to be way undervalued.

And the balance? That was used to promote RICH members into angels.

In other words they decided to help bankroll a brand new British film called Flight Of Fancy, on which hopes are pinned to become a worthy successor to those other British blockbusters, Four Weddings and a Funeral and, more recently, Bridget Jones' Diary.

Carnaby Films, based at Ealing Studios is trying to raise £2 million so that producer-directorDavid Fairman can start filming before the end of the year.

According to the production company it "centres on a young man in search of a purpose away from his dull but comfortable existence - who finds new realities and true love."

What is not generally known is that investor "angels" are entitled to play a part as an extra.

Mr Porteous said: "I don't know if any of us will take advantage of this. My guess is that no one will break ranks to expose themselves as a star-struck prima donna!"