William Riley

 

Rye Harbour RNLI volunteers cast off for ‘Endurance Row’

Date: 26/01/2011

Author: Richard Tollett, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer

Photo Courtesy Elaine Richards

The volunteer RNLI crew from Rye Harbour, assisted by volunteers from Dungeness RNLI lifeboat station, will step back in time on Saturday 29 January and row the Historic Whitby Lifeboat William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington from Rye Harbour to Hastings and back (weather and light permitting) as part of the RNLI SOS Day 2011. The volunteers will cast off between 7.30am and 8am.

RNLI SOS Day is the annual, national fundraising day for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Anyone wishing to sponsor the volunteers was encouraged to do so at www.justgiving.com/endurance-row or by completing a sponsorship form at Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station.

William Riley was built by Thames Iron Works at Blackwall in London at a cost of £722 9s 1d (£722.45) in 1909, funded by a legacy from William Riley of Coventry. Following successful trials she was sent to Upgang lifeboat station, one mile west of Whitby Harbour arriving on 21 July. William Riley was named on 23 August 1909 by the wife of the local MP The Hon. Mrs Gervasse.

All across the south east and London on SOS Day 2011, RNLI supporters will be doing their bit to raise money for the volunteers who regularly risk their own lives to go to sea to save others.

The remaining voluntary crew and fundraisers at Dungeness RNLI lifeboat station will be taking part in a sponsored 24 hour bike ride, starting at 12 pm on Friday 28 January and finishing on Saturday 29 January.

They are also holding a car wash day at the boathouse on Saturday 29 January - Soap Our Saloons starts at 10 am and finishes at 4 pm on the Saturday. Bring any car to the boathouse on the 29 January and our voluntary crews will clean it for you, just £5 per car. For more information please visit: www.rnli.org.uk/sos.

Photo courtesy Elaine Richards

For more information please use any of the methods below.

Telephone Richard Tollett, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Rye Harbour on 07785 594932

Steve Tee, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07977 503435, e-mail

Tim Ash, Divisional Media Relations Manager South East and London on 07785 296252 or e-mail

RNLI Public Relations: 01202 336789 or pressoffice@rnli.org.uk.

For more information on the RNLI please visit the RNLI Website. News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI Press Centre.

Key facts about the RNLI: The RNLI is the charity that 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 230 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and has more than 150 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK. 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 139,000 lives.

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