I’m cycling to Berlin to raise money for the RNLI in memory of my Dad, Adrian Walsh.

I’m cycling to Berlin from London, where I will cycle past (and visit) some of my Dad’s haunts in Westminster, then through Vauxhall where he grew up, then down to New Malden. The following day I will cycle 100 miles to Harwich for the overnight ferry to Holland, then at some point hopefully I’ll end up in Berlin.

Dad loved the sea. One of my earliest memories of him was when he spent time on HMS Shetland when he was working for MAFF, and that love carried on all the way into his retirement, with Adrian volunteering with the wonderful gang at Boathouse 4 in Portsmouth Harbour.

Being the son of someone who loved seafaring and the navy has rubbed off on me. Aged 8 I knew every single ship in the British fleet thanks to his buying us Jane’s Fighting Ships - what a book! - and nowadays I sing shanties with my folk choir. I’m staring out to sea while I write these words.

I first learned about the RNLI through him. They do incredible work saving lives at sea, and they remain entirely dependent on donations. I was down in Mousehole earlier in the summer, and spent some time at the Penlee lifeboat house, a permanent memorial and reminder to the dangers lifeboat crews face daily in their quest to keep us all safe

Please donate what you can.