The RNLI ‘Yellow Welly’ arrives on The Isle of Sheppey

The journey of the Yellow Wellys began on Sunday 30th April at the Portishead RNLI lifeboat station which is close to Bristol.
They have since travelled by various means right around the South West coast and along the South Coast calling at numerous lifeboat stations along the way and eventually arriving in the South East over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Whitstable RNLI lifeboat collected the wellys from the Margate RNLI lifeboat station on the morning of Sunday 28th May and then transported them across to The Isle of Sheppey where they were ‘rescued’ at 1.20pm by Alex Wilmshurst who is an RNLI Lifeguard on the beach at Leysdown on Sea
Having been rescued by Alex on his body board the wellys were handed over to Mark Tucker from the Sheerness RNLI lifeboat crew who supervised whilst they were placed into a classic Bentley and then whisked away to the Sheerness RNLI lifeboat station where the crew of the all weather lifeboat were waiting to take them on board for a rendezvous out in the Thames estuary with the Southend RNLI lifeboat.
The wellys were safely handed over to the Southend crew at 2.30pm halfway across the Thames Estuary approximately four miles from Sheerness and from there will visit further stations along the Essex coast before completing their journey on Wednesday 31st May at the Harwich RNLI lifeboat station after having visited 65 lifeboat stations along the way and with each station visited helping to raise awareness of the great work done in saving lives at sea by the volunteer crew of the RNLI lifeboats plus the many shore based helpers of the RNLI

Ends

Media contacts:

• Vic Booth RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer (Sheerness) 07926904453 / 01795 880544 [email protected] / [email protected]

Paul Dunt RNLI Press Officer S.E. [email protected] 07786668825

• Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) on 0207 6207426, 07785 296252 [email protected]

• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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 146,000 lives.

Learn more about the RNLI

For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.

Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.