Eastbourne boy's birthday dreams come true with a lifeboat ride

A birthday boy who asked for donations to the RNLI instead of presents had a wonderful surprise when he was taken out on a lifeboat on his big day.
Ahoy! James Williams, six, who loves the RNLI, got surprised with a lifeboat ride around Sovereign Harbour at his birthday partyAhoy! James Williams, six, who loves the RNLI, got surprised with a lifeboat ride around Sovereign Harbour at his birthday party
Ahoy! James Williams, six, who loves the RNLI, got surprised with a lifeboat ride around Sovereign Harbour at his birthday party

James Williams, of Sovereign Harbour, has idolised the lifeboat charity and its volunteers since he was tiny, and told all his friends to bring donations to his sixth birthday party instead of presents for him.

His mother Lucy Williams had arranged volunteers to come and talk at the party, but she had no idea they would take her and her son out for a spin around the harbour.

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His mum said, “He hasn’t stopped talking about it. It was like Christmas for him. He had such an amazing time.

“We approached the local RNLI because James wanted to raise money for them because he adores them.

“I knew they were coming to the party but I didn’t know they would take us along on a boat.”

She added, “He’s always wanted to go on a boat when it was running. We went all the way up the harbour and back. It was fantastic.”

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James has so far managed to raise £165 for the RNLI, with donations still coming in, and he and his family will present the full sum to crews this weekend.

His mother said “I’m really proud of him. Because we live on the harbour he’s always been interested in boats and he watches a series on television about lifeboats all the time.

“He loves what they do. He’s got an RNLI outfit, and he pretends to rescue people. He wants to join the sea cadets.

“From a very young age he’s been interested in it. It’s so unusual.”

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James’ grandmother Ann Caress described the suprise at the birthday party.

She said, “They said they would just give a talk and show a video, but they said to James ‘do you think your friends would mind if we borrowed you and your mum?’ They took him up the harbour and back.”

James came up with the idea of having donations to the charity instead of presents by himself.

His grandmother said, “I’m really proud, he’s an amazing child, we can’t believe it.

“You just don’t expect that sort of selflessness from a six-year-old.”

For more information about what the RNLI does, visit www.eastbournernli.org

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