Eastbourne RNLI crew walk 200 miles for 200 years
Members of Eastbourne RNLI’s volunteer crew, alongside their families, undertook a challenge this Bank Holiday weekend in collectively walking 200 miles to celebrate the charity’s 200th anniversary.
Walking over Sunday (26th May) and Monday (27th May) the volunteers walked in 3 shifts per day to ensure that there was always operational coverage for the lifeboats.
The route took them from the all-weather lifeboat station in Sovereign Harbour to Holywell, in the West of the town, and back, approximately 9 miles, passing Eastbourne's inshore lifeboat station on the way.
The walk was the idea of volunteer Launch Authority Darrel Tulley who wanted Eastbourne RNLI to take part in something as a team to mark the charity's bicentenary. It saw numerous volunteers, alongside their partners, children and even dogs take part. Many of the walkers wore RNLI kit for the duration, which in the blazing sunshine made it even more of an achievement.
Although mostly a public engagement walk, the fundraising team were out with collection buckets along the way and the total raised over the two days came to a nice round figure of £200.
On completion of the target number of miles, volunteer Launch Authority Darrel Tulley said:
‘I would like to thank all of the Eastbourne crew and families who walked 200 miles over two days to mark the RNLI’s 200th anniversary. It was a great couple of days where we got to say hello to so many smiling faces along the seafront. The RNLI has a massive history in Eastbourne and we would like you to hope we can serve the community for another 200 years’.
Notes to editors
· Eastbourne lifeboat station has been operating since 1822. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to: rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/eastbourne-lifeboat-station
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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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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
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.
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Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.