May Day 102 Mile Achievement by Weymouth RNLI fundraiser
On a sunny but breezy evening, Teresa Drage, Fundraising Chair of Weymouth RNLI and a group of supporters, which included the RNLI mascot Stormy Stan, adults, children and dogs, gathered at the clock tower to accompany her for the last mile of May Day Mile from the clock tower to Weymouth Lifeboat.
The May Day Mile is the annual campaign where people are invited to sign up to walk, hop, skip or dance a mile a day throughout the month. Teresa however set herself a challenge of walking 100 miles, and in fact finished on 102!
The walk took much longer than anticipated as well-wishers stopped to put money in the collection buckets, and to have photos with Stormy!
Teresa’s brilliant achievement is just one of the many fundraising activities that RNLI volunteers do throughout the year. Both of Weymouth’s lifeboats, the all-weather Severn class Earnest and Mabel, and the Atlantic 85 Jack and Phyll Cleare and their volunteer crews have been called out several times in the past week including to a sailing vessel taking on water, kayakers stranded on rocks and swimmers in difficulty. As a charity, the boats, the crew’s kit and their training is all funded through the generosity of public donations.
As if to illustrate the point of the fundraising effort, the volunteer crew of the inshore lifeboat also came to see Teresa off as they returned from assisting two people who had been blown offshore in an inflatable.
Teresa said ‘I have been overwhelmed by the support I have had on my daily walks around Weymouth. People keep saying I need to do 200 next year as it’s our 200th anniversary but we’ll see! I’m just looking forward to a rest.’
For nearly 200 years the RNLI volunteers have been saving lives at sea thanks to the efforts of people like Teresa.
You can still donate to Teresa's May Day Mile at;
https://rnli.enthuse.com/pf/teresa-drage
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.