Eastbourne RNLI crew walk 200 miles for 200 year milestone

Walking over Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27 the volunteers walked in three 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 nine 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.”