North Berwick RNLI receives donation from event held over 300 miles away

Didcot, being over 55 miles inland as the crow flies from the nearest coastline (and 300+ miles from North Berwick) might seem an unlikely venue for an RNLI fundraiser, but Jules Coles and Debbie Claridge have been on a mission to raise funds for the charity since 2024.

Friend, Alan Perks, and Jules’ father Trevor Coles were both keen supporters of the RNLI, so when they passed away in 2023, Jules and Debs decided to raise money in their memory, by undertaking the mammoth challenge of visiting every RNLI station in the UK and Ireland in one year.

Starting at Calshot in Hampshire on 1 January 2024 and finishing on 15 October 2024 Jules and Debs completed the challenge after 10,000 miles of driving, 39 ferries and 10 flights, raising a total of £11,571 for the RNLI in the process.

Not content with that, and looking to match the £32,000 that Trevor Coles raised as president of the Didcot Marlborough Club in 1988, paying for a D-Class lifeboat, named the Marlborough Club (D-407, for the relief fleet, which spent some time at Dunbar in 2002). The pair have been running one Quiz night and one Bingo night each year at the Marlborough Club to raise money for four D-Class stations.

Flint in Wales and St. Agnes in England were chosen for 2025, each station also receiving 5 pence pieces collected through the Betty’s pots* appeal, with over £2000 in 5 pence pieces collected by Jules and Debs since 2024. North Berwick was chosen as one of the 2026 stations, and in September Jules and Debs will be going to Southern Ireland (the location is top secret, even the station doesn’t know yet)!

Jules said; ‘The reason we chose our locations was based partly on the fantastic reception we had on our original tour in 2024, and partly the station having an interesting story we could report back to our supporters.’

‘We visited North Berwick’s shop on or 2024 tour and Elaine phoned her husband Ricky, the Lifeboat Operations Manager, to tell him we were there. He came down, opened up the boathouse and gave us the full tour.’

‘Considering we were only delivering £5 of Betty’s pots, this was a really kind gesture.
The interesting history of the station, closed and reopened, the boathouse being an ice cream shop, the Blue Peter connection and the oldest launch tractor in the fleet all added up.’

‘At present our fundraising stands at £15,700 after our visit to North Berwick. We are hoping that our September event will see us through the £16,000, halfway to the cost of the 1988 total in present day terms.’

‘Who knows, maybe in the future we can reach the £110,000 cost of a present day D-Class!’

The fundraising pair were met by operational boat and shore crew as well as James Meston the North Berwick and Gullane RNLI Fundraising Branch Treasurer who said ‘Thanks to the generous support of members of the public like Jules and Debs, and indeed the residents of Didcot, we are able to save lives right around the coast of the UK and Republic of Ireland.’

‘This donation will cover the cost of training one of our new crew members here in North Berwick, giving them the lifesaving skills they need to answer the call for help. We wish Jules and Debs well with their future fundraising events.’

*Betty’s 5p Pots: Betty Bayliss, a volunteer fundraiser at Whitby, came up with the idea of filling small jam jars with 5p coins in 2015, the appeal has since raised over £400,000 nationally.

Notes to editors

• It cost £1,360 a year to train each crew member in the lifesaving skills they need to answer the call for help
• 97% of the RNLI’s frontline lifesavers are volunteers including over 5,700 lifeboat crew members.

RNLI media contacts

Matthew Gibbons, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer, North Berwick, [email protected]
Richard Smith, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for Scotland, 07826 900639, [email protected]
Martin Macnamara, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for Scotland, 07920 365929, [email protected]
24 hour RNLI Central Press Office, 01202 336789 or email [email protected]

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 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 146,700 lives.

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