We are; Richard, Toni, Matt, Kelly and Keith (along with Mick, Eamonn and Bill our logistic team) we are all RNLI Lifeboat Crew and on 23rd June 2010 we completed the 5 Peaks of the UK and Eire 48 hour Challenge in 46hrs 26min 01sec in order to raise money towards a replacement Lifeboat for the Thames. 

The RNLI have had E Class Lifeboats in London for eight years and they are the busiest operational boats in the RNLI fleet.  As this is written we at Tower Lifeboat  have launched 3022 times and saved 184 lives, last year alone we launched 405 times and saved 26 lives, this year is following a similar trend with 222 call outs saving 18 people and er ... a dog! Tower Lifeboat is just one of four on the Thames. The E Class Boats are now coming to the end of their service life and need to be replaced. 

Help us to help others; please throw us a lifeline!

Please, it isn't over we still need money! If you know of a group that would like us to give an after dinner talk or something similar please let us know.

Donate below. Thank you.  

Updates:

6th July 2010

It's done! The team completed the challenge but it was touch and go; there is a sting in the tale read on!  

The Ben Nevis ascent went really well finishing 45 minutes ahead of plan, this was eaten into somewhat by road works in Scotland, farm vehicles in Cumbria and a TomTom that seemed set on scenic routes, nevertheless we arrived at Scafell Pike just ahead of schedule and even had time to do a piece to camera for the RNLI press office! (Catch that and a brilliant photo compliation on YouTube; search for Tower RNLI 5 Peaks) Scafell Pike was also completed ahead of the time set at the summit the climbers recieved the highest donation yet; £10 at over 3000ft! Thank you Alan Stringer! The team refueld with Chilli Quorn Carne and Mrs Drury's great cakes as we made for Wales and Snowdon.  The ascent was done in darkness with a fantastic sunrise at the summit that had Kelly, Matt and Toni framing some beautiful shots and filming some wonderful phenomena. This may seem a little slack of us but we weren't going flat out - at this stage our only time consideration was the ferry at Holyhead and we made that comfortably with 10 minutes to spare. The crossing was very comfortable as Kelly blagged us a couple of cabins and we all snatched some much needed sleep.  The trip from Dublin to Bloody Bridge in the Northern Ireland had TomTom confused with new road layouts that ate into our time allowance, we saw a lot of Newry! Slieve Donnard was on Kelly's home turf and she led the way, making the summit, via a relentless wall that they relentlessly walked on, in just under an hour.  The journey to the South west of Eire was a long one and we were baffled as our newly bought road atlas and TomTom didn't show the very fast road that seemed to parallel our track, this new motorway would have saved us at least an hour! However we made Cronin's Yard, the start point for Carrantuohill and the last summit ahead of shedule and the team had over eight hours to complete ... easy yeah?  No, this was probably the most challenging of the 5 peaks; only Richard had been atop it before and he had done that via another route; it was being attempted in darkness and the weather which had been perfect upto this point took a turn against us.  They made steady progress toward the Devil's Ladders, a feature that provides a direct, though near vertical 1000ft ascent to the summit. However the wind rain and darkness made the climb up an irresponsible, and unjustifiable risk so Matt decided to dig in; he called a stop and the climbers got into their bivvibags to sit out the storm and wait for better light and conditions; tic, toc, tic, toc, they passed the time with good humour and after a couple of hours the light improved and they cracked on making the 5th Peak in 46hrs 26min 01sec more than an hour and a half ahead of time! 

The response so far has been amazing; we have even had donations from some folk we've rescued!  Thanks so much too:  the Cheeky James Gardiner, Colin Williams, Valerie Scarr, Will Ellwood, Dave and Val, Alan Stringer, Julia Pierce, Iain, Lesley, David and Ruth, Ann Bates, Ocean Blue (Thanks so much for the food trays too), Kieth and Helen White, Laura Lyth, Michael Wenster, Jaypee, Fran Bayley, Joe Maw, Ruth and Ronan, Ruth Shaylor, Judy Wadham, Laura and Martin, Gary Armstrong, Dave and Mim, Kerry Owen, Wendy Selkirk, Dean Beamer, Jim Moroney, Andrew Fennemore, Liz Pearson x! Anita Stepnitz x, The City Livery Companies, Mary and John Anderson, Ben Kirby, Marja Chapman, Chalky and Jen, Jason Carroll, Tom Barton, Peter Marsden, Matt's Nan (Ahh!) Lee Vessey, Grainne DeVery, Kathleen Cochrane, Chloe Bloom, Tony Vlasto (Yes, a relation!) Phil Myers, Laura Marsh, Dominic Scarr, Maggie Fowler, Bridget Wilson, Saroush Majd, Greenwich Yacht Club, Lucy Foreman, Jennifer Bradley, Mark Milhench, Naomi, SuSu :-) xx Mum and Dad and Martin Leat, The Bakers, Mummy Scarr, Sarah Smith, Tracey and Charlie Crowcher, Stephen Wheatley, Eleanor Driscoll x, Roger Hough, The Bancrofts (Loved baby Bea's crew rig!), Caroline Adams and the other chaps ... you know who you are. XX :-) If you have not donated and can support us then please give whatever you can.

We are now available to give illustrated talks on the challenge for a fee that will go towards the boat so please let us know if we can do that for you or your friends!

13 June 2010

Look out for more or less live updates here and on the Facebook RNLI-5Peaks page.

20 May 2010

Hi all,

An apology to begin with; the last update did not include mention of Keith's effort on the Virgin London Marathon; in spite of the title he's quite experienced at these events and he's raised quite a bit of money for the cause! 

A few stats from the station that we have recorded.

Call outs 2010 = 140
Lives saved 2010 = 11 (+ 1 Dog)
Total calls since 2002 = 2940
Total lives saved since 2002 = 191 (+ 1 Dog)

As you can see 2010 has started as a very busy year for us, and the boat has been woking very hard!

With 1 month to go now until we start the challenge we have everything in place to set a sub 48hr time. Thanks to everyone who has helped with the logistics. 

As you can see we are now 40% of the way to reaching our target. So special thanks to: 

During the event we aim to be updating this and our facebook page with  our progress and pictures. Once again thank you for your support and please remember to get your friends to help raise funds towards a new Thames Lifeboat.

Cheers

The Team

09 May 2010

There has been a lot going on over the last few weeks. 

CV Training and 'team bonding' took place in Appledore, Devon over the weekend of 16th-18th April and the runners made a really good time on the hardest part of the SW Coastal Path; Westward Ho! to Clovelly, just shy of 18km.  The next day was an easier route but a cracking pace to Bideford.  Bonding took place over a fab BBQ and with the introduction of the team to Rattler Cider in the Beaver!

May the Fourth be with you.  The force was with us as the whole team gathered at Waterloo Station to collect for the RNLI at the Launch of London Lifeboat Week.  We've not had our numbers back yet so can not put up the total, but we're hopeful, those buckets were damned heavy at the end of the day!

7-9th May Toni and Bill were camping in Nether Wasdale, Cumbria for a recce of Sca Fell Pike.   Toni did a solo ascent of this peak in very fine weather and completed two different approaches to the summit. Here she piled on the layers as the peak had incredibly strong winds and was icy cold; meanwhile Bill recce'd road routes in and out of perhaps the most isolated peak of the five.

As this is written we're at a third of our target! 

03 April 2010

Thank you Steve Hegh! (Check out the pictures.) He's donated the use of a First Festival Minibus for the Challenge and saved us around £700! :-) Now does anyone know anyone who can sponsor the fuel?

02 Apr 2010

What a nice guy Sir Chris Bonnington is!  He met the team at the lifeboat station yesterday and gave us some great advice; amazingly, running uphill is not significantly faster than walking uphill and although he's an omniverous fellow he strongly recommended cooking fresh pasta and rice dishes using quorn mince or tofu. This was good news logistically as we now only have to cook one dish for the team at each meal.  His route recommendations will also save us considerable effort and time. It's a lot to think about.  He took a real interest in the boat too and we were all a bit swept away with his enthusiasm.

On the fundraising side we are almost a quarter of the way there! 

Our thanks to:

14 Mar 2010

Training is well under way with all the climbers getting in the running miles. Matt, Keith, Toni and Kelly have just climbed Snowdon twice!. The last ascent ending in something of a white out with hail and snow, now they face a rather long and uncomfortable journey back home  Richard has been heroically busy elsewhere, whilst Bill and Mick have been organising and proviiding the support.

We were completely amazed by the generosity of one donor who has chipped in £5,000 off line.  This was in response to an article in the London Evening Standard, so do spread the word! 

We could use the help; for example minbus hire for the event will cost us between £600 and £750 ... we're approaching the hire companies for a donation but does anyone know anyone with the funds to sponsor this or is in a position to get us a deal on 'mates rates'?  The same goes for the fuel; the conservative estimate on this is £300.  If you or your friends would like to sponsor the event in this way please indicate clearly on the message section of the donation or get in touch on Facebook RNLI -5Peaks at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=222284096035&ref=ts

22 Feb 2010   

The team would like give their thanks to all who've given support to the Challenge so far. There's been so much, it's amazing and rather humbling.

We've had a donation of food and accommodation for the entire team in Dingle where we'll be resting after the event; this has relieved us of a large financial and logistic burden.

If you can - or know of anyone that can - help in a similar way; sponsoring fuel, minibus, food or ferries for the challenge please get in on it and let us know.


Thanks also for the words, wishes and prayers.

Thanks again!