THE arrival in June of a new lifeboat for a Ceredigion RNLI station does not signal the end of their mammoth fundraising campaign just yet.

New Quay RNLI has been fundraising to get £105,600 in relation to a new Shannon class all-weather lifeboat for the station. The lifeboat has now arrived, but the fundraising continues to pay for crew training and costs incurred with the transportation of equipment.

There have been a range of fundraisers that have taken place and the next is a gruelling 190-mile cycle by 10 friends.

The group – from the Cardiff area – will be cycling the 190-mile distance from Penarth RNLI to New Quay Lifeboat Station.

The riders are Emyr Thomas, Rhys Jones, Dafydd Shurmer, Neil Cole, Andrew Owen, Martin Kitchener, Rupert Jones, Mark Condron, Dafydd Thomas and Simon Stretch.

Emyr said: “Having seen first-hand 12 shouts in a row the New Quay lifeboat crew took part in last summer, I couldn’t get over how important the lifeboat is for New Quay and the coastal area of Ceredigion.

“I personally wanted to help support the training for the new lifeboat and it seemed a good idea to help raise the money for New Quay RLI’s fundraising appeal. This is my way of showing my appreciation to the volunteers for everything they do.”

The challenge is called Cei-diff, a mix of Ceinewydd (New Quay’s Welsh name) and Cardiff.

Simon added: “Any contribution you can give us would be much appreciated and will make a real difference to keeping the seas of Ceredigion safe for all users. If you would like to donate to our challenge, Cei-diff, please go to our just giving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/simon-stretch.”

The challenge began this morning at 6.30am and they will be aiming to complete it in 12 hours, calling at Barry, Porthcawl, Port Talbot, Mumbles and Burry Port lifeboat stations on the way.