North Pembrokeshire RNLI lifeguards have set themselves a challenge to walk 186 miles around the county’s coastal path to help raise vital funds for St Davids RNLI boathouse appeal.

RNLI lifeguards work closely with lifeboat crews across the coast to help keep the public safe over the busy summer months. Earlier this summer, St Davids RNLI volunteers were tasked to raise £150,000 to help fund the new RNLI boathouse which is under construction on the Pembrokeshire coast.

North Pembrokeshire's RNLI beach lifeguards have worked alongside St Davids lifeboat crew for many years and wanted to show their supports to their fellow lifesavers by supporting their community appeal. As the summer season now comes to a close, a team of RNLI lifeguards will walk 186 miles from Amroth to St Dogmaels in Cardigan as a relay challenge, carrying a rescue tube as a baton along the way.

Scott Candler, Senior RNLI lifeguard explains:

‘Usually it takes 10-15 days to complete the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path but the lifeguards like a challenge so we hope to complete it in nine days. Each walker or group will cover roughly 18-22 miles each day; at the end of each day a rescue tube will be handed over to the next person or group ready to continue the challenge around the county.

‘Like all of the RNLI’s lifeguards we work very closely with the lifeboat crews over the summer season. For many of the team St Davids RNLI is our local lifeboat station; the volunteers have been so supportive of the lifeguard team over the years so when we heard about their £150,000 boathouse appeal, we knew we wanted to help.’

As well as providing a daily safety cover on Pembrokeshire’s busiest beaches the charity’s lifeguards are now busy fundraising for the challenge. To support the RNLI lifeguard team in their challenge please visit their on-line fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/rnlistdavids or contact the Haverfordwest Support Centre on 01437 767645.

Work has already begun on the final 20-month project to construct the new RNLI boathouse at the St Justinians site. The build will be home to the station’s new Tamar class lifeboat RNLB Norah Wortley, which is already saving lives off the Pembrokeshire coast whilst operating from a temporary mooring in Ramsey Sound.

The project includes a new RNLI Lifeboat Station and slipway for the Tamar class lifeboat with additional space to accommodate the smaller D-class inshore lifeboat. The boathouse will include modern facilities including a drying room for kit and better provision for crew training and equipment maintenance. There will be better access to the new station which is important for the delivery of equipment and, more importantly, for the evacuation of any casualties brought in by the lifeboat.