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Hunstanton golfers tee up record £40,000 for the RNLI

Lifeboats News Release

A golf day at a top Norfolk links raised £40,000 for the charity that saves lives at sea. Thirty-eight teams of four took to the greens at Hunstanton on Friday, 21 June. They included a team from the town's RNLI lifeboat station, which is barely a decent drive away along the beach.

RNLI/Chris Bishop

The Hunstanton RNLI team who finished just outside the leader board (from left), Seamus Griffin, Bob McDonald, Jeff Lenton, Charles le Strange Meakin and Paul Searle
The event was organised by the Hunstanton and West Norfolk Lifeboat Guild, with the generous support of Hunstanton Golf Club, along with sponsors and businesses who donated prizes and items for a silent auction.

David West, the guild's vice-chair, said: 'It was a day where local knowledge was found to be a premium but youth managed to take the overall first prize.

'The RNLI Team acquitted themselves well but like the rest of the field, found the rough very unforgiving. That said it wasn't all about prizes but raising money for the RNLI.

'Although the final monies aren't collected yet we are pretty certain we shall have a record year and maybe top out at over £40,000.00 after all costs.'

Among the prizes was a magnificent silver salver donated by aggregates supplier PR Thory Ltd as a perpetual trophy for the event in honour of the RNLI's 200th year.

Director Tim Thory said: 'We live here, my wife Helen is on the guild and we think it's an important cause. Any of us might need rescuing one day.'

Tim and his team - which included Danny Knight, Charley Cook and Harry Burgess - needed anything but rescuing once they hit the fairway.
For they came in first - meaning theirs would be the first names engraved on the silverware he had donated hours earlier.

Louise Hudson, Tim Cowell, Ed Barratt and Rosh Samarathuraga came second, while in third place were Dave Caplan, Nic Pull, Derrick Lloyd and William Barber.

The event, which began in 2013, has now raised more than £220,000 for the RNLI.

The guild presented the golf club with a special commemorative shield to acknowledge its contribution towards saving lives at sea.

Angie Coker, the guild's joint president, said: 'Hunstanton Golf Club give us the course for the day, which is unbelievable.

'It's a great course and a lot of people want to come and play on it, so we get a full entry every year.'

RNLI Picture captions
The photographs show the golf day. Please credit: RNLI/Chris Bishop for the event images and RNLI/Derek Greening for the salver presentation.

Notes to editors

Hunstanton RNLI operates an Atlantic 85 fast inshore lifeboat, Spirit of West Norfolk, one of the fastest in the RNLI fleet.

It's also one of just four stations which operates a search and rescue hovercraft.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of both the founding of a lifeboat service at Hunstanton and the birth of the RNLI, whose work would not be possible without donations from its supporters.


RNLI media contacts:

For more information call Chris Bishop, Hunstanton RNLI volunteer Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07584 147219, Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager, North and East, on 07824 518641, or the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.


RNLI/Chris Bishop

David Bingham, from Hunstanton Golf Club, with the Bourne Again ladies' team from LIncolnshire

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Helen Thory with the RNLI silver salver donated by PR Thory Ltd

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Tim Thory tees off

RNLI/Chris Bishop

A competitor blasts her ball down the fairway

RNLI/Derek Greening

Angie Coker (left) presents Tim and Helen Thory with the silver salver they had donated before the tournament began

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, 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.

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