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Amateur cyclist and trainee gentleman Mr. Kelvin Pawsey will be leaving from Folkestone's Sunny Sands Inshore Recuse Boathouse on the 31st of July and departing again from Rye Harbour RNLI station on the 1st of August to embark on the two-wheeled charity adventure of the year!
Hoping to raise as much money as he can for the Harris Tweed Authority Educational Trust and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Kelvin will pedal himself over 900 miles to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, home of the famous Harris Tweed.
Having no support team with him, Mr. Pawsey will carry everything on his trusty Holdsworth bicycle. Tent, bed, cooking pots, moustache wax and of course an expeditionary Tweed RNLI flag to hoist in every campsite and tweed bunting to add a sense of occasion!
Punctures and map reading aside, Kelvin is aiming to complete his journey in three weeks, stopping for cake and ale along the way. (And saluting Magpie’s) Following the Grand Union Canal he also hopes to pop into the Reynolds Tubing factory in Birmingham which supplied the world with its legendary ‘531’ bicycle frame tubing. He will also be stopping at a tearoom in Penrith to find the ‘finest wines available to humanity’.
But enough about Pawsey, here’s some information about the charities:
The Harris Tweed Authority Educational Trust is a charity concerned with keeping the traditions of weaving alive on the islands. As you may have seen on a recent BBC documentary Harris Tweed is not as thriving as a unique, world-renowned cloth should be.
Harris Tweed is the only cloth in the world to be protected by an Act of Parliament. This puts it in the same league as Champagne, Parmigiano Reggiano, Camembert, Arbroath Smokie's and Plymouth Gin.
The Harris Tweed Educational Trust has been established by the Harris Tweed Authority as a means of advancing the education of the public in the history, production and properties of Harris Tweed.
Harris Tweed is hand woven in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland from 100% pure wool. At the heart of the Harris Tweed industry is an ability to combine centuries of heritage and tradition with creativity, imagination and a determined sense of individuality. The famous ‘Orb’ Trademark stamped on every metre of cloth guarantees that the fabric has been certified by the Harris Tweed Authority as genuine Harris Tweed.
The Harris Tweed Education Trust aims to ensure that young people from the Outer Hebrides and indeed further afield, are educated and informed about this most cherished and beautiful, but sometimes fragile parts of Scotland’s national heritage. The first project of this recently formed trust is to support a formal recognised vocational qualification in Harris Tweed. From August 2010, this course will be offered through the education curriculum to S3/S4 pupils in one school on the Isle of Harris – the home of Harris Tweed. Other projects in development include a project to support the dying craft of hand warping and hand weaving.
Being surrounded by sea the RNLI will not be strangers to most people. They exist as a voluntary body of very special people who risk their lives to ensure that the lives of others at sea can be saved. As a charitable body the RNLI rely on the public to keep them afloat. Like any emergency service the RNLI are on call 24 hours a day, providing a service covering the sea, coast, beach and flood affected areas of the UK and RoI. Like a lot of things in life, they’re not there until you need them but they need your money to continue saving lives at sea.
The first RNLI station Kelvin hopes to visit will be Morecombe then on to Kippford, Troon, Mallaig and Portree. He shall also be popping by the Dungeness station en route to Rye Harbour.
Kelvin has strong and close family connections to the Mary Stanford, a lifeboat that was lost with all her crew in 1928. Whilst trying to launch in an extreme storm the crew were unaware that a second flare had gone up to say that ship 'The Alice' was out of trouble. It wasn't unusual for the Rye Harbour lifeboat to take sanctuary in Folkestone Harbour if the sea was unrelenting in its fury. Tragically sanctuary was never found in 1928 and Kelvin's beloved grandmother aged only 18 was one of the many who reclaimed the bodies from the tide. Kelvin's great grandfather served on the Mary Stanford in the years before the tragedy.
In keeping with the two start points there shall be two finish points! First will be the Harris Tweed Authority HQ and second will be the RNLI station at Stornoway.
Any amount that you feel able to give will be gratefully received. Take care xx
