Kinghorn Loony Dook breaks records

The weather was fantastic with huge crowds lining the promenade and cheering on the swimmers. Many dookers came in fancy dress, with mermaids, elves, a giant banana and many more.

Over £1,100 was donated to the RNLI on the day, and further sponsorship is expected to boost the final total.

Kinghorn Lifeboat fundraising Chair, Sheona Smith said, ‘We had fantastic support from our local community with a record-breaking number of swimmers taking part this year.

‘We welcomed many people to the beach and through their generosity over £1,100 was raised to help continue saving lives at sea.

‘Kinghorn was one of the busiest lifeboat stations in Scotland in 2018 with the pagers sounding 71 times. This service, and all the training involved, costs a lot of money so fundraising events are essential to maintain the service. The Atlantic 85 class lifeboat stationed at Kinghorn costs £214,000, with annual running costs of an inshore lifeboat station, like Kinghorn, around £85,000 per year.

‘Our lifeboat was launched for the event and the volunteer crew undertook a demonstration in the bay. We had a number of crew members in the water providing safety cover. They confirmed that the water was very cold, even in their dry-suits and thermal clothing!'

Notes to editors

• Kinghorn lifeboat station has been operating since 1965. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to www.rnli.org.uk/kinghorn
• A video of an Atlantic 85 lifeboat can be viewed at http://www.rnli.org.uk/who_we_are/press_centre/videos/video_detail?articleid=321844&category=&region=&listing
• The attached photographs show a number of images from the Loony Dook on New Year’s Day at Kinghorn.

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For more information please telephone Neil Chalmers, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07767 380274 or [email protected] or Henry Weaver [email protected] or Gemma McDonald on 01738 642956 [email protected] contact RNLI Public Relations 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.

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