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VWs hit the road for Hunstanton for the RNLI

Lifeboats News Release

Dubs drove in convoy on a run to the Norfolk coast on Sunday 26 January to raise finds for the charity that saves lives at sea.

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Stormy Stan welcomes the first wave of the VW convoy to Hunstanton
More than 100 classic Volkswagens, including iconic campers, Beetles and Golfs, along with customised creations hit the A149 coast road for Hunstanton, before pitching up for a meet at the town's seafront car park.

Chris Marshall from the Anglia Dub Hub, who was one of the organisers of the Run to the Hun, rolled up in his vintage Beetle, while wife Heather was at the wheel of the couple's T4.

'We do watersports, we go paddle-boarding, I'm learning to sail,' he said. 'Living by the coast, the RNLI is so important for everyone's safety here.'

Amid the array of the full-sized VWs, Dougie Rye, aged four stole the show with a miniature classic camper built by his dad Phill from a fibreglass shell and a mobility scooter, putting it through its paces.

Now all they have to do is choose the colour - which he said might end up being a distressed, rusty look.

The family from Gayton, Norfolk, met Stormy Stan and members of the Hunstanton and West Norfolk RNLI Guild, who ran a busy collection at the event.

'The RNLI do a great service,' added Phill. 'Being a coastal community, we need them.'

Jen Dormer, who drove up from her home in Hertfordshire in her camper named Bear, was selling event stickers for people to add to their vehicles in aid of the RNLI.

Jen, who's now on her third VW camper which she travels as far as Cornwall in, said: 'They're here for anyone who goes out on the sea.

'Heaven forbid we ever need them, but it's just so good that they're there.'

Stormy Stan, who hitched a lift to the event after welcoming the first wave to town, was taken by a purple Mark I beach buggy which Liz Applegate had driven from her home in Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads.

Liz said her late husband Peter, who ran a boat-building business before he passed away in 2015, was a keen RNLI supporter, whose name had been added to a Shannon Class lifeboat as part of the RNLI's Launch a Memory program.

Derek Greening, chair of the Hunstanton and West Norfolk RNLI Guild, was pleased with the turn-out as he surveyed the full car park.

'It's been another successful year for the Run to the Hun,' he said. 'There are many people here and all have been very generous to the RNLI as they always are.

'It's great to see so many people here enjoying themselves.'

The day has so far raised more than £600.

RNLI Picture captions

The photos show the 'Dub' event. Credit: RNLI/Chris Bishop.

Note to Editors

Hunstanton is one of the busiest lifeboat stations in Norfolk, whose volunteers operate the fast inshore lifeboat Spirit of West Norfolk and the search and rescue hovercraft Hunstanton Flyer.

Like more than 230 RNLI stations around the coast of the UK and Ireland, its lifesaving work of is funded entirely by the generosity of those who donate towards the charity that saves lives at sea.

Since Hunstanton's current station opened in 1979, its crew have saved more than 150 lives and assisted more than 800 people after they found themselves in difficulty or danger.

Both craft and crew are on-call 24/7, 365 days a year to launch whenever they are needed.

RNLI media contacts

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

RNLI/Chris Bishop

The Rye family - (from left) Steph, Dougie and Phill - in their mini VW camper, with Stormy Stan

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Stormy Stan with Jen Dormer, who'd made souvenir Run to the Hun stickers to raise funds for the RNLI

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Liz Applegate in her Mark1 Beach Buggy, with Stormy Stan

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Organiser Chris Marshall with wife Heather at the Run to the Hun

RNLI/Chris Bishop

Hunstanton and West Norfolk RNLI Guild members Angie (left) and Helen at the event

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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