Ceredigion RAF Veteran completes 500-mile walk raising over £1,600 for the RNLI
Roger Phillips, an RAF veteran, recently completed a 500-mile walk around the north coast of Scotland. Roger, 73, chose to support the RNLI in their Mayday appeal after having survived becoming trapped in his sinking aircraft and nearly drowning in 1973.
After Roger’s dramatic experience, in which he became trapped in a sinking aircraft after it went down in the South China Sea, he chose to support the RNLI to help them continue to help other people who get into trouble in the water. In order to show his admiration for all the work that the RNLI has done over the years and continues to do, he decided to tackle Scotland’s 500 mile long North Coast route as part of the RNLI’s Mayday mile fundraiser.
Roger, from Aberaeron, Ceredigion began his journey from the village of Lochcarron and walked clockwise around the coastline managing to complete the entire 500 miles in 28 days. Despite difficult weather conditions and terrain, Roger still managed to achieve an 20.04 miles on the last day averaging 16 minutes 49 seconds per mile.
Reflecting on the challenge, Roger said:
‘I set out to walk 500 miles for charity and completed that in 28 days. The whole challenge was conducted with good humour and good spirit and I met some wonderful people and enjoyed some spectacular scenery.
‘A huge thank you to everyone, from the supporters to the ' givers' and to anyone whom we touched during this time. Thank you, please keep giving.’‘
'The most outstanding thing to me was that I finished in Lochcarron and then it took 12 hours to drive home to Aberaeron and even I could not believe that was the same mileage as I had just walked. Put into a straight line the distance became unbelievable.’
Catherine Jones, RNLI Community Manager for North and Mid Wales said:
‘Throughout the Mayday challenge we have seen countless people show their support for the RNLI in many weird and wonderful ways. Roger’s has completed an amazing feat and raised a brilliant amount that will be essential to the RNLI’s ability to continue keeping people around the coast safe.
The amount of support we’ve received from people like Roger who have gone above and beyond is truly heart-warming. It is thanks to people like him that our volunteer crews will be able to continue to save lives at sea particularly ahead of this summer which is looking to be one of the busiest ever.’
If you’d like to contribute to Roger’s fundraising efforts or find out more, you can via his Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/walkthe500walkwithRoger
RNLI media contacts
For more information please contact Maddy Wright, Media Engagement Placement at [email protected] or Danielle Rush, RNLI media manager in Wales and the North West on 07786 668829 or the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
RNLI online
For more information, please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the RNLI News Centre.
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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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 143,000 lives.
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 142,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter 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.